内容摘要：Mr Picken said the main issue was getting above the planes, due to the hangar being "quite a big building".

Mr Picken said the main issue was getting above the planes, due to the hangar being "quite a big building".

CalMac had hoped to hire the ship to improve resilience this winter when a number of its large ferries could be out of service for repairs or scheduled maintenance.en-My-Chree - which means "girl of my heart" in the Manx language - is currently used as a back-up vessel for Isle of Man ferry services after a new ship, the Manxman, arrived last year.

The 125m (410ft) ship is available for charter to other operators subject to a service agreement which Bmeans it can be recalled with four days' notice in emergencies.But Ben-My-Chree, which is wider than CalMac ships that normally operate on the Arran route, had some difficulty berthing at Brodick.CalMac's interim chief executive Duncan Mackison said: "Whilst the vessel berthed successfully, we were at the very edge of the limits it was safe to operate to, and we’d be relying on completely benign conditions to berth regularly.

"Given the conditions at this time of year it is not safe, or sensible, for the service to try and operate this way."Preliminary work indicated the vessel may be suitable for Troon-Brodick and eliminated all other routes. But the only way we could know with certainty was to carry out these trials."

CalMac said there was "no immediate negative impact" on it services as a result of the trials not working out, and it would continue to explore options for chartering extra ferry capacity.

CalMac has said it faces a very challenging winter, and a charter of Ben-My-Chree would have freed up a vessel from the Arran route to maintain services elsewhere.James Malley, a research technician, operates a machine that can work out how much oxygen is contained within the specs of dust.

He shows us a test run of what he will do."I'm going to hit that grain on the tray with a laser," he says, showing the scene magnified on a computer screen.

"It's going to start to glow, and you will see it melt inwards," he says.The team has a year to finish their research. By the end, their search for answers will probably end up destroying the samples.