Ferry failings

In his Inside Transport article on Friday ,31 May, Alastair Dalton pointed out that hovercraft can be successfully operated on the south coast but are shunned for cross-forth travel.

A similar comparison can be made for ferries between the Solent and the Clyde and West Coast routes. Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd insist that the Caledonian Macbrayne fleet is the b est solution for providing the Clyde and Hebrides ferry service.

A simple comparison between the mainland ferry routes to the Isle of Wight with the Oban to Mull or Ardross an to Arr an routes shows how unbelievable this claim becomes. Using a mix of vessels from 1,000 tons and a crew of eight to 5,000 tons with a crew of 13, up to 24 crossings p er day to each destination across the open waters of the Solent can be achieved at service speeds of 12 knots.

Most ferries are of an openended design with a draft of around3-4metres, and all can take HGVS. Freight levels

on these routes has steadily increased.

Caledonia nM ac B ray ne, however, utilise mostly large vessels of three to 5,000 tons, draft-limited to three metres, with a crew of up to 30, which can only manage around ten crossings a day in the relatively sheltered waters of the Firths of Clyde or Lo rn, at service speeds of ten knots.

Movement of HGVS on these routes is entirely dependent on the pa r ticular design of the vessel that is scheduled on th es er vic e–M V Coruisk, for example, which provides additional summer capacity on the Oban to Mull route, cannot take HGVS . Freight services on these routes have remained at the same haphazard level for years.

Alastair Dalton may well have asked whether Scots’ hopes of ever getting a decent Clyde and Hebrides ferry service will also now be forever deflated!

FERGUS GILLANDERS

Kilmelford, Argyll