Report calls for shorter routes nd and ‘simpler’ Calmac ferries
A former Scottish Government adviser has called for the use of simpler ferries, with smaller crews on shorter, more frequent crossings as he accused operator Calmac of overseeing “appallingly poor productivity”.
Consultant royp ed ers en, who previously worked as head of community, culture and transport at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, urged ministers to adopt a “Norwegian model” to combat the ferry network’s “long-standing malaise”.
The suggested model would involve deploying economical vehicle ferries with minimal “live-ashore” crewing on high frequency schedules, and shortening some of the crossing routes. Mr Pedersen pointed towards Shetland’s internal ferries system as a successful example. The Government has previously announced its intention to directly award the contract for the Clyde and He brides network to the publicly-owned Calmac operator. But Mr Pedersen urged the Government to “un-bundle” the routes on the network and allow other firms to submit bids.
He also pushed for operators to bring their own vessels to the routes, which he said would “bring a saving of an average of perhaps a further £50 million per annum”.
This move would effectively shutter the Government’s publicly-owned ferry procurer Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), which the report claims should eventually be “wound up”.
In a 36-page submission to a Transport Scotland consultation on its Island Connectivity plan, Mr Pedersen wrote: “Persisting with the current and manifestly dysfunctional policy of the state procuring large, inefficient ships, manned by large live-aboard crew complements, operating on longer routes than necessary, running to overly complex labour-intensive terminals, will increase the already high financial cost to the Scottish taxpayer.”
Duncan mack is on, the interim chief executive of Calmac, said: “Everyone at calm ac is committed to providing a quality and reliable ferry service and this is reflected in our reliability and punctuality figures, which consistently remain at more than 95 per cent and improved in the last financial year. However, we fully share customer concerns regarding cancellation sand disruption sand are working closely with third parties and stakeholdersto address these issues .”
Mr Pedersen, who has appeared repeatedly before Holyrood committees to discuss ferries, also weighed in on the long-running “fiasco” of the twolateandover-budgetferries being built at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow.
The running political sore could have been avoided, he said, had CMAL opted to commission two 98-car catamarans from an Australian-based yard – at a cost of £12m each – or a similar design, which would “be more economic alto operate and have superior sea-keeping, manoeuvrability and environmental qualities”.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “We have invested more than £2 billion in our ferry services since 2007 and have outlined plans to invest around £700 min a five-year plan to improve ferry infrastructureand benefit our island communities.”
Everyone at Calmac is committed to providing a quality and reliable ferry service