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‘Sorry’ says CalMac boss – but another two years until pressure on the ferry network will ease

CalMac Ferries managing director, Robbie Drummond.
Image: CalMac.
CalMac Ferries managing director, Robbie Drummond. Image: CalMac.

It will be at least two more years until West Coast ferry services are improved, CalMac’s boss said today.

And it will only ease, if the two long-delayed boats at Ferguson’s shipyard are delivered.

Robbie Drummond, chief executive of CalMac ferries told the BBC Radio Scotland Sunday Show, earlier today, that he was “sorry” for the current disruption.

He said he appreciated the impact of ferry cancellations on the daily lives of passengers and for business.

“We have three of our vessels out of service, but we are determined to bring them back into service as quickly as we can and restore full operation,” he said.

“The next few years are going to be challenging but I can assure you everyone at CalMac is focused on delivering the best service that we can.

Two challenges

“There are two challenges we are facing, the first is the age of our fleet.”

The Press and Journal took a look at Scotland’s West Coast ferry fleet in detail – you can see that a ferry from the 1970s is still part of the fleet.

He continued: “The average age of our vessels is 24-years-old. A third of our fleet is over 30 years. As vessels age – their resilience declines.

“We spend enormous sums of money on maintenance, but we are still suffering those technical disruptions.

The Glen Sannox ferry.

“The second challenge is that we have no spare vessels. We run more than 500 sailings a day, and when we lose a vessel there is no spare vessel to provide cover.”

That means the ferry operator needs to run the same number of routes but with fewer boats.

Asked if it was a categoric failure of planning, Mr Drummond said it was a “lack of investment”.

He continued: “On the positive side that investment is now there.”

Mr Drummond said there were six large vessels in the pipeline, and 10 smaller vessels – in the next one to ten years.

Will 802 and Glen Sannox ever be delivered?

Speaking of a report in today’s Sunday Herald that ferries, Hull 801 and 802 – 801 is also known as the MV Glen Sannox – will never be launched due to arguments over public funding, he said: “If they do not come on stream, then that is a major challenge.”

The boats were due to be delivered in 2018, but have been delayed by some five years – and are due to begin to come onto the network later this year.

The report in The Herald today suggested that a lack of provision for the ferry company in the Scottish Government’s budget would lead to a further stall to the vessel’s delivery.

Mr Drummond continued: “We know there are some risks around the delivery of services, but we can only go on what we have been told.”

A Scottish Government spokesman told the newspaper: “We remain committed to the completion of the vessels, and supporting our island communities that rely on this type of vessel.”

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