STV today has this:
Islanders say Scotland’s ferry service is stumbling from crisis to crisis due to a lack of resilience in the system.
Breakdowns and cancellations are causing disruption to businesses as well as missed hospital appointments.
A new ferry for the Islay route was launched in Turkey at the weekend. It is due to be in service by the end of this year, with another due next year.
While a welcome addition, residents there claim they have been dealing with a second-rate service while they are built and are facing another summer of disruption.
There’s more, much more, of the same ‘ferry fiasco’ tropes but no facts, from an Islay shopkeeper, a member of the Community Council and Mr Shakespeare, above.
Islay has a population of 3 200, far fewer than the many deprived former mining villages across Scotland but has a massively Scottish Government-subsidised, low cost, ferry service currently based on, to my knowledge, the 90m long, 5 600 GT, only 13 year-old, MV Finlaggan with capacity for 550 passengers, 85 cars and 10 HGVs.
There are currently around 8 crossings per day from the mainland to two Islay destinations, operating at 100% reliability in recent days.
So, first, the capacity of this allegedly ‘second rate’ service?
Over a 365 day year with 8 crossings per day – 2 920 sailings.
Thus capacity, over the year, for 1.6 million passengers, 248 000 cars and 29 200 HGVs?
How many were actually carried?
In 2022 (the latest data I can find), 202 000 passengers, 75 476 cars, no details of HGVs: https://www.calmac.co.uk/article/9241/Carrying-Statistics-2022—text-version
With the best will in the world, we’re looking at large expensive vessels, massively subsidised by mainland taxpayers, often living far less pleasant surroundings, running at 20% capacity!
I keep writing ‘massively subsidised’.
The details:
Research undertaken for Transport Scotland in 2022, by Ernst and Young LLP, compared the ferry systems operating in Scotland, Canada (BC), Norway, Australia and New Zealand.
The Norway service is a bit of an outlier with twice as many passengers per year than the next biggest, BC with 22m and 9 times greater than in Scotland with only 5m. Also, key information on subsidies could not be collected for the Norwegian or the New Zealand systems.
Most striking is the level of subsidy per passenger. In Scotland, it averages £29.80 per passenger journey. In Canada (BC), it is only just over half at £16.36 and in Australia, only just over one-tenth at £3.86. Norway figures are not presented.
Also fascinating, is the ratio of vessels per passenger journey. In Scotland, there is on average, 1 ferry for every 161 290 journeys; in New Zealand, 1 for every 200 000 journeys; in Australia, 1 ferry for every 468 750 journeys; in Canada only 1 ferry for every 628 571 journeys.
In terms of age, interesting in the light of media headlines here, Scotland’s ferries are the newest with an average of 22 years, with Australian ferries at 24, Norwegian at 26 and the Canadian ferries at 35!
Finally and an important measure of the value of a system to communities, how many locations and routes are served?
Despite having by far the fewest passenger journeys (5m), other than in New Zealand, in Scotland, 52 terminals and 29 routes are served.
In Canada, 47 terminals and 25 routes are served.
In Australia, only 38 terminals and 9 routes are served.
In New Zealand, 21 terminals and 24 routes are served.
This research clearly demonstrates that, after 16 years of SNP-rule, the people in Scotland’s islands benefit from a far more generous taxpayer-funded service than anywhere comparable in the world.
There are other ferry services for islands in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines but given their deadly qualities, I doubt that any island representatives in Scotland would think it fair to compare with them.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Seriously enough is enough….. something has to be done about this negative propaganda; if not the Scottish people will never get to know what the reality is and remain unconvinced we can be a very successful Independent country. I suggested before a massive Billboards campaign on our motor/railway network. Crowdfund anyone?
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Calmac should put the Islay service out to tender with a service requirement of 8 crossing per day x 365 days per year, has to service at least the 20% plus capacity, current subsidy will be available to the successful bid. Commercially the current service is heavily subsidised by the rest of the Calmac fleet. Let’s see how many bids they get, also they have to supply their own boat because we can use the Finlaggan elsewhere.
Golfnut
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Maybe the rest of Scotland should stop subsidising Islay ferries and let “their” extremely rich owners pay for it ……..Louis Vuitton, Bruno Baron Von Schroeder, Baron Margadale etc…..but no they won’t want to spend their wealth when us mainland “commoners” will “happily” fund their exemplary ferry service……it allows them to moan like all good little Tory peers do………kick the Tories out of Scotland…..vote SNP and everyone can enjoy our beautiful country without the negative propaganda from Westminster elite and their Scottish branch Tory/labour spin doctors!!!
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As with the S.Uist campaign, “business” and reference to the FMEL saga, this particular STV article stinks to the high heavens of orchestration for asset-stripping but SFA to do with logistics reasons – The bizarre aspect of Frazer Campbell’s testimony “But cancellations have hit sales and left shelves empty” is a bit of a stretch by way of credibility – Did the seagull’s do an overnight raid, or was it all sold ?
The other Shakespeare, not the downsized Ben living the life of Reilly taking photos as he did from his southern origins, nor the one who made fishing rods etc which you can be sure are not stocked by Frazer Campbell, said it best in the Merchant of Venice, “a pound of flesh” – It’s all about money…
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I don’t doubt the orchestrated anti Scottish Government and Scotland is shite, canny run a ferry service, on going campaign has had an effect on footfall, if you keep telling people, particularly prospective holiday users that the service is crap, then holiday makers will stop coming, it’s that simple. It’s not the lived experience for most of us using the service but if you rely on the media for your info your going to make other plans that won’t include a ferry. If your a business person on any of the island’s, it’s not the Scottish government or Calmac you should be raging at but the media and their handlers. Instead we have what passes for business leaders colluding with the people responsible for damaging their business interests. Unless of course it hasn’t and this is purely politically motivated along the same lines as Alistair Jack not being able to think of one thing the SNP have done for Scotland and that is probably a lot close to the mark.
Golfnut
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