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Highland MSP slams £9 million cost to hire ferry for beleaguered CalMac network

MV Alfred ferry, which is currently being repaired, cannot fir in Stornoway Port. Image: Pentland Ferries.
MV Alfred ferry, which is currently being repaired, cannot fir in Stornoway Port. Image: Pentland Ferries.

The £9 million cost to hire a ferry to relieve pressure on the CalMac network, has been criticised by Highland MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston.

The MV Alfred will be leased on a nine-month contract from Pentland ferries for £1 million a month.

It will help alleviate the pressure on the CalMac network with several vessels out of action due to delays to overhauls or technical faults.

Delays to the new ferried being built at Ferguson Marine shipyard have also impacted ferry services, with vessels required on routes when they would otherwise have been “retired”.

The Alfred will begin sea trials on April 18, eventually working on Clyde and Hebrides routes.

The hope is the Alfred will prop up services over the coming months, with the anticipation of a busy tourist season and increased visitor numbers to the West Coast islands.

However, since the announcement, there has been criticism over the cost of the ferry hire, with Mr Halcro Johnston calling it an “expensive fix”.

Originally the older MV Pentalina was due to head west to help bolster services back in June 2021, however, the newer MV Alfred will go in its place.

The Pentalina will now be left to service the routes in the Pentland Firth between Gills Bay and St Margaret’s Hope.

calmac ferries
CalMac is looking to bolster their service reliability by having the MV Alfred on standby to replace aging vessels on routes. Photo: Marion MacNeil

‘Scotland’s ferry network is beyond breaking point’

He said: “It is welcome that the MV Pentalina won’t be left tied up while Scotland’s island communities count the cost of unreliable or cancelled CalMac services.

“Scotland’s ferry network is beyond breaking point, and it’s just a shame it has taken so long for a deal to be agreed.

“This deal only highlights the SNP’s total mismanagement of our ferry network and new vessel procurement.

“Taxpayers are left paying £1 million a month for nine months to hire the MV Alfred, a boat which only cost £17 million to build.

“This is an expensive fix for years of SNP ferry underinvestment.”

The MV Alfred will have to be modified to make it suitable to dock at ports along the west coast of Scotland. Image: Pentland Ferries.

“As ever with this SNP/Green Government, a sticking plaster solution has been found and taxpayers will be left to pay for it”.

Joe Reade, chairman of the Mull and Iona Ferry Committee told The Herald: “The ferry is desperately needed, but it is a phenomenal amount of money and they could have bought one for that price.

Another ferry user group official said: “While it is great news that there is extra resilience for CalMac, the cost of the charter compared to what the ferry actually cost Pentland Ferries beggars belief.

“It is an incredible win for Pentland Ferries to get £9m of our money for a three-year-old boat that cost them £14m.”

A CalMac spokeswoman said the Alfred will be used for backup on routes reduced to a single vessel to “mitigate the impact of disruption”.

Transport minister Jenny Gilruth said: “This is a key step in our longer-term commitment to retain a fully crewed vessel in the fleet for this purpose, as set out in the draft islands connectivity plan.

“The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lifeline ferry fleet and better meeting the needs of island communities.”

Conversation