From Kiro News Radio today:
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) confirmed to KIRO Newsradio Monday that 38% of the vessels in the Washington State Ferries (WSF) fleet are out of service for various reasons.
WSF Communications Consultant Brian Vail explained to KIRO Newsradio Monday that the Yakima ferry, which services Anacortes and the San Juan Islands, has been out of service since Saturday with electrical issues. The vessel maintenance staff and contractors are continuing to work on it, Vail added.
Vail told KIRO Newsradio that with the Yakima out of service until its work is completed, eight ships — or nearly 40% — are on the sidelines at this time.
“So that means eight of our 21 vessels are out for service right now,” Vail said. “So we’re down to 13 operating vessels this week.”
https://mynorthwest.com/3939113/washington-state-ferries-vessels-out-of-service/
8 out of 21! 38%?
CalMac has 34 ferries with, as far as I can see, the MV Caledonian Isles, the MV Alfred and the MV Maid of Glencoul out of service – 9%.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Indeed, but Washington State is not ensnared in a game of political football, nor does KIRO Newsradio stray beyond honest journalism to present it otherwise.
As example of the different standards of reporting, take the latest ” No extra cash for Ferguson shipyard modernisation ” https://archive.ph/ANAv9 from HMS James Cook keeping the ‘ferry stories’ propaganda game alive by the simple device of excluding “now” from the headline.
The article then platforms Graham Simpson and Katy Clark to imply they know of an authoritative solution, despite neither having been directly elected as MSPs nor served in government, then “Analysis by David Henderson” as if the Business and transport correspondent actually has a grasp of the problem rather than innuendo.
Washingtonians don’t have a Propaganda Quay….
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‘As example of the different standards of reporting, take the latest ” No extra cash for Ferguson shipyard modernisation”. ‘
There are all sorts of ‘contrasts’ or contradictions at play in this latest offering from BBC Scotland and opposition politicians. We’ve just experienced the furore over a Scottish Government minister racking up a ‘huge’ bill of £11,000 when using an iPod, with leading members of opposition parties calling for the minister’s head even after the Holyrood authorities investigated and found not much that was untoward, and said minister is paying the bill himself anyway.
And now we have the same political parties ‘outraged’ that a minister in the Scottish Government has cause to pause, when considering a request for the ‘minor’ sum £25,000,000 from the Ferguson Marine shipyard!
The BBC Scotland piece on the BBC News website has this headline: ‘No extra cash for Ferguson shipyard modernisation’. But like much that comes from BBC Scotland, the headline is being economical with the truth! We learn later the actual situation:
‘.. Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray told MSPs he wanted the shipyard to “REFINE” ITS BUSINESS PLAN BEFORE AGREEING EXTRA FUNDING.’ (my emphasis)
And we learn that when addressing a parliament which contains members who have been only too ready in the past to imply something dodgy about procurement of work from Fergusons: ‘.. Mr Gray gave no commitment to fund the new equipment, suggesting that state aid rules were a problem. He told MSPs the government’s “INDEPENDENT DUE DILIGENCE” on this initial request had concluded it would not meet a “key legal requirement”.’ ‘Due diligence? Who needs it – press on minister!
And counter to the BBC’s headline, the article repeats this from the minister: “We are CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THEM (i.e. the company) to REFINE THOSE PLANS AND TRY TO PUT TOGETHER A PROPOSAL THAT WOULD PROVIDE THE KIND OF FUTURE WE ALL WANT TO SEE,” he said. “Any such request must meet subsidy control rules and NEEDS TO DEMONSTRATE VALUE FOR MONEY and be open to parliamentary scrutiny.” I’ll return to vfm later.
So we learn from BBC Scotland that a Tory spokesperson is wanting speed of decision over due diligence and a Labour spokesperson has the gall to state this Scottish Government “cannot stand back and sabotage the shipyard”!!!
We are fortunate to have a BBC Scotland ‘Analysis’ which tells us this about the Scottish Government ‘now it seems reluctant to commit more funds. So you might ask – why?’
The same ‘analysis’ has this: ‘Shipyard bosses want to secure the future of the yard, by building seven new small Calmac ferries. They want a direct award for that work – SO THEY FACE NO COMPETITION FOR IT. The Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray didn’t rule out that idea. But he didn’t commit either, and warned that direct awards could only happen in limited circumstances. Breaching those rules, he said, could lead to legal challenge and delays.’ And then this: ‘THE BUSINESS CASE FOR THIS INVESTMENT IS STILL BEING DEVELOPED, we were told.’
Would the Tory opposition really support the yard being given Calmac work on the basis of single tender action?
And one can’t help wonder what the response would have been if the Scottish Government had immediately acceded to Ferguson’s request for £25m of public funding. Would the opposition parties – as an alternative tactic – been engaging with BBC Scotland to amplify this from the very recent Audit Scotland report which also majored on Ferguson’s future business uncertainties:
‘Use of resources to improve outcomes – para 9 FMPG does not have a formally agreed document that details the arrangements in place to support the best value characteristics, including a systematic approach to self-evaluation and continuous improvement. IN SHAPING THE LONGER-TERM STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF THE ORGANISATION, FMPG WILL NEED TO CONSIDER HOW IT DEMONSTRATES BEST VALUE.’
Perhaps the minister agrees!
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Can BBC Scotland’s journalism really have further to sink?
O/T In a BBC News website article in its UK section today under the heading ‘Keir Starmer pushes for Labour vote on Gaza conflict’ we learn this: ‘Dozens of Labour MPs have defied their leader to call for a ceasefire.’ and ‘19 members of the frontbench have also publicly diverged from their party’s official position.’
The Radio 4 Today programme had two senior Labour MPs being interviewed one after the other, clearly divided, explicitly disagreeing on the issue of a cease-fire in Gaza.
So its ‘interesting’ to reflect on how the same issue is being framed by BBC Scotland in an article on the Scotland page of the same BBC website.
This is the BBC Scotland headline: ‘Will SNP motion highlight division in Labour Party?’ What’s with the QUESTION BBC Scotland?
The BBC Scotland Westminster Correspondent begins her piece with this: ‘As the House of Commons debate on last week’s King’s Speech comes to an end on Wednesday, some parliamentary shenanigans have come into play.’ Further on, the article even has the same word a second time, in a sub-heading: ‘Beyond the shenanigans’!
Shenanigans (from the Cambridge Dictionary)
– ‘secret or dishonest activities, usually of a complicated type’
– ‘silly behaviour that is usually not very serious or harmful’
– ‘humorous or dishonest tricks.’
The notion that the word would even enter the head of a BBC journalist at this time given the context is hard to believe!
Even when a majority of Scottish MPs are engaging on the most serious of matters in the Union’s parliament – and are aligned with for example the view of the UN Secretary General – BBC Scotland still attempts to insert negative framing of their actions whilst opting for a headline that denies the SNP positive profile and avoids the obvious truth about the Labour Party.
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I suspect Stewart that they will indeed just sink even further. In my opinion, their propaganda – for that all it is, is having less and less of an effect on folk who see through what they are up to. Therefore they have nowhere to go except to be more extreme.
BBC Scotland’s loss of viewers from 2020 to 2022 was 38%, this is their own figures. I wonder why. Anyone think those viewers will be returning?
As for the Herald and Scotsman, well they really have such a low circulation now that they have become vanity / curiosity reading rather than seen as honest reporting. I must admit to following Martin Williams “Tales of the Riverbank” though.
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Oh wow, that’s crazy. Hope they get the all sorted out.
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