‘National scandal’: Calls for heads to roll in ferry crisis
Four vessels break down in space of weeks as lockdown easing steps up
SCOTLAND’S ferry network is in crisis ahead of the easing of lockdown with four vessels breaking down in the space of three weeks and a replacement freight service that can only take four lorries.
Campaigners have said that heads should already have rolled over the state of the nation’s ferry services, describing the continuing issues as a “national scandal”.
Calmac’s largest ferry, MV Loch Seaforth, has been taken off the Ullapool-stornoway route and put into dry dock for “major” engine repairs.
The eight-year-old vessel is likely to be out of service until at least May 4.
The Herald can reveal that yesterday technical issues with the 23-year-old MV Clansman ferry serving Coll and Tiree have also occurred.
It returned to Oban at 1pm with all services cancelled for the rest of the day after it developed a fault. Calmac said the issue is being investigated.
The Herald can reveal that two further vessels serving Wemyss Bay and Rothesay on the Isle of Bute have also been laid up for repairs since the start of April.
A technical problem with the 16-year-old MV Argyle meant it was taken out of acton as it needed to go in for repairs last week.
Calmac said that until further notice the 17-year-old MV Bute – which itself had only just returned
to service after over two weeks of repairs “due to a technical issue” – would help in covering the crossing.
The problems with the four ferries has caused disruption to eight ferry services and has raised grave concerns about how the ageing Calmac fleet will be able to cope as the islands open up for the summer.
The latest issues come off the back of the country’s ferry building fiasco, with two vessels currently being rebuilt, which are years behind schedule.
Arran Ferry Action Group chairman Gavin Fulton said the situation was a “national scandal” and those responsible should already have lost their jobs for the state of Scotland’s ferries.
He said: “The fact we have had the whole fiasco of Ferguson Marine with the completion dates shunted into the future and then this. Things can only get worse before they get better.
“These issues have been known and we and others have warned about the problems with the ferries for years now. And nobody has listened. They haven’t invested,
they have squandered so we are shaping up for a year or so of serious trouble.
“There is always something not working, it is pathetic really.
“No matter what happens, nobody ever gets the sack.”
The two lifeline ferries being build at Ferguson Marine, which
were due to be in service in early 2018 are now up to nearly five years behind schedule and their cost is over double the original £97 million contract.
The first of the ferries, the MV Glen Sannox, is now destined for the Arran to Ardrossan route – Scotland’s busiest ferry crossing – between April 2022 and June 2022.
Ferguson Marine, led by tycoon Jim Mccoll, went into administration in August 2019, following a dispute with Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) – the taxpayer-funded company which buys and leases publicly owned Calmac’s ships on behalf of the Scottish Government – over the construction of the ferries under the fixed-price contract.
The Scottish Government then pushed ahead to take full control of the shipyard company as it went under with blame attached to soaring costs of the ferry contract.
Joe Reade, chairman of the Mull & Iona Ferry Committee, added: “The current crisis caused by engine failure of the Loch Seaforth demonstrates the failure of the ‘build it as big as possible’ strategy that has been repeated over and over again across the network.
“Rather than building in resilience and flexibility by deploying a larger number of smaller ferries, CMAL, Transport Scotland and Calmac have attempted to meet growing demand by making vessels larger and larger, and having fewer of them.
“These increasingly complex one-off Hebridean behemoths come at enormous cost – not just for the vessel itself, but for the pier lengthening and port dredging required to make them fit existing infrastructure.
“It is increasingly clear that the whole public ferry system in the Hebrides is dysfunctional. The incoming government need to open their eyes to the problem and make some radical and much overdue fundamental changes.”
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the local authority for the Western
Isles, has called for a “complete overhaul of the cumbersome, ineffective and outdated structures” of ferry services in Scotland.
Calmac has said that the MV Isle of Arran – which normally runs on the Ardrossan to Brodick route – will be temporarily taking over the overnight freight run on the Stornoway-ullapool route.
And the MV Isle of Lewis has been taken off its usual route between Castlebay on the Isle of Barra and Oban in Argyll to support the Loch Seaforth run.
But that has led to the temporary cancellation of the Ardrossan to Campbeltown service until “at least May 4”.
Calmac explored the possibility of hiring a vessel on a temporary basis but none were available at short notice.
It also means that there is disruption to the busy Ardrossanbrodick route, which will only operate a single vessel service at the start of the summer season.
The spin-off effect will also mean reduced services on the route from Mallaig on the west coast of the Highlands to Lochboisdale on the island of South Uist.
Its ferry, the MV Lord of the Isles, will combine the Lochboisdale,
South Uist, and Castlebay services. But while the 380ft-long MV Loch Seaforth, which cost £42m and can carry up to 143 cars, 700 passengers and 30 articulated lorries, the replacement Isle of Arran can only take four lorries and the Isle of Lewis can take 13.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar says that even a double run of the Arran would appear to fall “way short” of what is required.
Robbie Drummond, managing director of Calmac, said: “The temporary movement of the MV
Isle of Arran was necessary so that essential freight traffic could continue to be moved on the Stornoway-ullapool route.
“I appreciate that the reduction of the service between Brodick and Ardrossan is very challenging for our customers, and we apologise for the inconvenience this will cause.”