Away with the ferries
Soaring cost of maintaining £34m state-of-the-art hydro vessels plagued by fuel and engine issues
TAXPAYERS have shelled out £500,000 in four months to maintain a fleet of eco ferries which already cost £34.4million to build.
The hydro ferries, which run short routes on the west coast, have been hit with fuel and engine issues that led to hundreds of cancelled sailings and battery replacements – costing £2.5million for two of the three vessels.
The Scottish Governmentowned operator CalMac spent between £ 10million and £ 12.3million on each of the three ferries after being built at the stateowned Ferguson Marine shipyard on the Clyde.
At the time similar vessels cost £4million.
Earlier this year we told how between December 2012 – when the first ship was launched – and May 2023, the cost of maintenance and repairs totalled £6,486,546.
Now in the first four months of 2024, taxpayers were billed an extra £564,732 to repair and maintain the three ferries.
Lib Dem North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie said islanders had been let down by the SNP government.
He added: “From paintedon windows to huge delays and overspends, the SNP’s legacy on ferries is farcical and their credibility is gone.”
Freedom of information figures show that between January 1 and April 30, total costs for the MV Lochinvar, which operates between Fishnish and Lochaline in Argyll, were £408,790.
The MV Hallaig provides a service between Sconser on Skye to the isle of Raasay. Repairs between January and April cost £134,848.
Costs for maintenance and repairs for the MV Catriona in the same period were £ 21,094. It does the 90- minute trip between Lochranza on Arran and Tarbert, Loch Fyne.
Latest figures also reveal that 167 sailings on the MV Lochinvar have been
The SNP’s legacy on delivering ferries is farcical WILLIE RENNIE SCOTS LIB DEM LEADER
cancelled since launch, as well as 41 on the MV Hallaig, due to mechanical issues and 185 on the MV Catriona.
We told how MV Hallaig was running on diesel only because its electric battery was broken, with a £1.5million refit under way.
The MV Catriona is also having a £1million battery replacement and refurbishment, less than 10 years after launch.
Alfred Baird, ex-director of the Maritime Transport Research Group at Napier University, was consulted on the ferries and claimed a total running cost of 259 per cent more than diesel.
Taxpayers also spent £3.5million on wages for crew on one of Scotland’s delayed ferries, the MV Glen Sannox, in 2022 despite it not carrying a passenger.
The ship, along with the Glen Rosa, was due to be handed over in 2018. The cost has grown from £97million to £360million.
CalMac claimed an underspend of £133,726 in the 2023-24 overhaul costs for the MV Hallaig reduced the bill over the four-month period to £299,979.
Craig Ramsay, CalMac’s fleet management director, said: “These are average costs. To put these figures into context, we spent £ 43mil lion on the maintenance of all vessels within the CalMac fleet in 2023.
“While some of these costs were spent on unplanned repairs, the vast majority was on planned maintenance, both in service and during annual dry dockings.”