The Kilcreggan to Gourock ferry service will be suspended until Monday at the earliest.
MCA inspectors ordered the Island Princess to cease sailings yesterday (Thursday), saying they had found ‘several serious defects’.
And tonight a spokesperson for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), which subsidises the service, said: “During an inspection of the Island Princess, the MCA notified Clydelink of a number of safety-related issues which led to them instructing the removal of the vessel from service until these were addressed and the vessel permitted to resume operation.
“The operator has advised us that the necessary repairs are well advanced and they hope that the vessel will be available for re-inspection by the MCA from Monday so that the vessel can resume services.
“Clydelink have, in the meantime, laid on buses as an alternative.”
The buses and taxis use a 50-mile route which can take up to 90 minutes, compared to the 13-minute ferry journey across the Clyde.
A year ago the service was reduced to 12 passengers at a time – rather than the contracted 60 – because of problems uncovered in MCA inspections.
Robert MacIntyre, then Argyll and Bute’s representative on SPT, said the authority had appointed an engineer with the power to carry out spot checks on the boat without prior notice.
He told Cove and Kilcreggan Community Council: “SPT don’t need to subsidise this ferry service, so be careful what you ask for,” claiming that the MCA had taken four working days to check a gearbox on the boat.
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