The Loch Shira is now back in service between Largs and Cumbrae after it broke down on Easter Sunday.

The smaller Loch Riddon had to cope for most of the day with the excess traffic until the MV Isle of Cumbrae arrived in the early evening to provide assistance.

However, the matter was compounded on Easter Monday when heavy fog disrupted Cal Mac services throughout the Clyde.

On visibility, it is up to the vessel's master to decide whether it is safe to sail or not. The decision is his and his alone.

Caledonian MacBryane told the 'News' that while there have been a few technical issues of late 'she remains a reliable vessel'.

They state that out of 22,238 sailings last year there was a total of 342 cancellations due to weather or technical issues which is 1.54%.

Cal Mac believe that this compares favourably with the figure for the entire network which stands at 2.43%. Of these only 110 were cancelled due to technical issues. This means that approximately one in every 200 sailings over the course of the year is cancelled due to a technical issue A spokeman said: "We apologise for any inconvenience these technical issues with the Loch Shira may have caused over the holiday weekend. Technical breakdowns are proportionately rare, one in every 200 sailings on average, and it is unfortunate that this happened over a busy weekend break. We try very hard to provide adequate cover quickly when these instances happen and to get the vessel back on the route as quickly as possible and we appreciate the travelling public's patience when a technical issue does disrupt the service."