CalMac repairs bill tops £100m while wait goes on for new ferries

Record amounts are being spent to keep ageing ships in service

Author: Rob WallerPublished 18th May 2023
Last updated 18th May 2023

Repairs to keep CalMac's ageing fleet of ferries sailing has passed £100 million in the last five years, figures provided to the Liberal Democrats show.

In the last year alone the cost of repairs topped £26.5 million according to the figures produced from a freedom of information request.

The state-owned operator - and the islands it serves - endured a tough winter with many of it's oldest vessels facing unexpected breakdowns, prolonged overhauls, or in the case of the MV Caledonian Isles, months out of service awaiting new parts.

'Creaking' ferry fleet

Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said: "These figures expose the toll that a decade of poor planning by SNP ministers has had on our creaking ferry fleet.

"It's clear that many vessels are past their best but Scottish Government failures mean that there is no alternative to patching them up and hoping for the best.

"There should be a pipeline of new boats ready to launch to take up the slack.

"Sadly we are now on our sixth transport minister since work on the two ferries at Ferguson Marine began."

Record repair bills

Responding to the Lib Dems' comments on the fleet repairs, CalMac chief executive Robbie Drummond said: "We spent a record £34 million on fleet maintenance last year, which was an increase of around 70% from £20 million in 2017.

"Annual overhaul is a highly complex task which our teams plan for months and involves an average of 35,000 engineering tasks being carried out across the fleet.

"This increased investment can be attributed, in part, to the age of the vessels, with more than 38% of them exceeding 30 years of age and increasing challenges around obsolescence and obtaining parts.

"Investment in maintenance is planned to grow to well over £43 million in 2023.

"We appreciate that breakdowns cause a great amount of disruption, and when they occur we pull together specialist teams from across the organisation who prioritise getting the vessel back into service.

"We have no spare vessels in the fleet, so the teams' focus is on protecting essential services and moving customers on to other sailings if possible."

CalMac said its figures for maintenance are higher than those given to the Lib Dems as they include upgrades to the ferries.

Names for new Islay ships

Meanwhile, the public body which owns the ferries has revealed the names of two new vessels which will serve Islay and Jura.

CMAL, which is separate from CalMac, announced they will be called the Isle of Islay and Loch Indaal following a public vote.

The vessels will be focused on freight and are being built at Cemre shipyard in Turkey, with delivery expected in 2024 and 2025.

CalMac's ageing fleet

MV Glen Sannox launch

Perhaps the most infamous ferry in Scotland, MV Glen Sannox was launched by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, at the Ferguson Marine yard in Port Glasgow in November 2017. The yard won the contract to build two ferries which could be powered by either regular marine diesel fuel or LNG. Five years later the ship has yet to enter service and the yard has been nationalised after falling into administration amid a row with the Scottish Government about the delays and escalating cost of the project.

MV Glen Sannox delays

MV Glen Sannox is intended to become the main ferry for the service between Ardrossan and Brodick on the Isle of Arran. A sister ship - as-yet unnamed - will operate in the Western Isles. The vessels are more than five years late and will cost £250m - more than twice their original budget. The ship has required extensive remedial work including alterations to the hull and replacement of the original electrictal cables which were found to be too short. It is expected to be in service in summer 2023.

Busiest route

CalMac's busiest route is the crossing between Largs and Cumbrae Slip in the Firth of Clyde, which in summer operates every 15 minutes, although drivers can be forced to wait in queues of more than an hour at the busiest times. In 2021 it carried 175,000 vehicles and 619,000 passengers.

Oldest vessel

CalMac's least-busy route is a summer-only service between Ardrossan and Campbeltown in Kintrye, which carried just 8,427 passengers in 2021. It is operated by the firm's oldest ship, MV Isle of Arran, which was launched in Troon in 1983.

Passengers only

CalMac operates the passenger-only service between Dunoon and Gourock. For many years the route also carried vehicles but there was long-standing controversy with claims of unfair public subsidy against a rival private operator. The service can be vulnerable to poor weather conditions relying on lighter vessels such as the catamaran Ali Cat.

Battery power

For the last decade CalMac has made the first moves to reduce the carbon emissions of its fleet with the introduction of three hybrid ferries which can operate on battery or diesel power. They were constructed at the Ferguson yard in Port Glasgow and operate some of the shortest crossings on the network

Private rival

There are ferry services which are not run by CalMac. The privately-owned Western Ferries operates between McInroy's Point (near Gourock) and Hunter's Quay (near Dunoon) on a turn-up-and-go service using up to four vessels at one time.

Foreign-built ships

Until the recent Ferguson scandal CalMac's newest and largest ships had been built by foreign yards, including the MV Finglaggan, launched by the Remontowa yard in Poland in 2010 to serve Islay.

Capacity issues

Since 2016 The introduction of the cheaper RET fares structure - linked to the cost to drive the same distance by road - and increasing popularlity of 'staycation' and campervan touring - is linked to increasing pressure on routes to the most popular islands, with sailings booked-up weeks in advance.

Hear the latest news on Clyde 1 on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app.