The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland - a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson
By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS and Top Global Ferry Correspondent of the Year.
In the Herald’s Letters today, from Peter Wright of West Kilbride:
End this shambles: Get CMAL to order catamarans now
We’ve been here before, twice.
First, is this why the Scottish Government wisely rejected catamaran project as two 20 year-old $460 million Canadian catamaran ferries go on Facebook Marketplace for only $15 million?!!
On 1 May 2022, the Herald’s Ferry Correspondent, Martin Williams, announced:
MINISTERS have been accused of a “scandalous” waste of over £110m by failing to use catamarans instead of two new alternative lifeline vessels which are now being built in Turkey.
This was the catamaran project:
Ministers have come under fire as an £800m scheme to create a Clyde shipbuilding revolution and solve Scotland’s ferry crisis with a fleet of 50 catamarans has been sunk.
Fronted by Stuart Ballantyne, a Scottish naval architect and chairman of Australian marine consulting firm Sea Transport Solutions whose designs are used in around 50 countries, the Clyde Catamaran Group has had meetings with ministers over the new ferries built over 20 years would cost a fraction of those currently being built.
Before I launched my own ferry career, did any Scottish journalist think to check if other catamaran projects in similar northern waters had gone well, say in Canada’s British Columbia?
Might they have found this story?
They might be the most infamous ships in the history of British Columbia: three B.C. Ferries that were hundreds of millions of dollars over budget, couldn’t run as fast or efficiently as promised, and were partly responsible for sinking the NDP government of the 1990s.
The project was officially unveiled in 1994, with the aluminum catamarans deviating from the standard B.C. Ferries design.
Two successive NDP premiers (Mike Harcourt and Glen Clark) believed they would cut sailing times on the Vancouver-Nanaimo ferry route by 30 minutes, while also kickstarting a new era for the province’s shipbuilding industry.
But the vessels cost double what they were originally budgeted for. When finished, they ended up not significantly cutting crossing times, had mechanical issues, and created dangerous waves and additional pollution.
The opposition B.C. Liberal Party frequently used the ferries as an example of NDP mismanagement on their way to winning 77 of 79 seats in the 2001 election, and subsequently sold the boats in 2003 to Washington Marine Group for $20 million. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fastcat-ferries-facebook-marketplace-1.7080937
Video of the scandal here: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1555938883743
Footnote: the average age of operating CalMac ferries is between 20 and 30 years .
Second, why the Scottish Government rejected catamarans for CalMac – safety in the stormiest waters any ferry service faces
In August 2023, I see this Canadian catamaran had to call off in wind speeds of 55km/h or 34mph. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/hullo-ferries-cancellations-aug-15-aug-14-1.6936635
Meanwhile in Scotland with CalMac:
Whether a sailing is cancelled or not is largely depending on the forecasted and current wind speeds as well as sea conditions. As a more or less general rule one can say that when wind gusts of around 40 to 45mph or higher are expected there is already a chance that ferries will divert or are being cancelled.https://islay.scot/how-to-check-if-your-ferry-to-islay-is-sailing/#:~:text=Wether%20a%20sailing%20is%20cancelled,divert%20or%20are%20being%20cancelled
34mph winds? Pussies?
Does CalMac operate in the stormiest water?
It does. The next most northerly and exposed to ocean storms, are BC Ferries, operating out of Vancouver, Canada. See this:
Maybe the Herald would like to revisit this story?
No need the Daily Record has stupidly.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Aye and they would have been built in the Philippines where the average wages is a fraction of that in the EU or Turkey.
A ship yard painter on £5000 a year…!
With wages like that no wonder a ship built there has issues.
Regards,
Bob
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There is no crisis nor has there ever been except of course between the ears of the media and politicians trying to convince the Scottish voters that the best ferry service in the world is actually the worst. You could of course switch ferry for SNHS, Police Scotland, Fire Service, let’s not forget the very combustible baby boxes and a raft of other services funded by the Scottish Government.
Golfnut
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Martin Williams seems to be very desperate to promote these catamarans as the salvation to whatever nightmare he puts together in his ferry stories. However, in fairness to Martin, he does seem to have struck a chord with the letter writer, and that must be very encouraging for Martins longer term career in journalism.
Perhaps Martin can put Stuart Ballantyne in touch with the IOW ferry companies and then Stuart can try and flog his catamarans there?
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i have travelled on this type of vessel often from Athens Piraeus to Hydra and back for years the vessels they used until two years ago were sturdy and heavy they didnt bobble about on the waves up and down and side to side they way the new ones do that were introduced by Hellenicseaways two years ago , these new ones are smaller lighter and lower in the water even in summer you feel as if you are in a tin can bobbing about in the sea with one way in and one way out, i was frightened when i used them two years ago and vowed i would never use them again , its the only service to Hydra , i wont be back.
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There has been so much mischief circulated via the media over ferries serving scottish islands, that there was always going to be someone BELIEVING they know the answer, “End this shambles: Get CMAL to order catamarans now” being fairly typical – That’s the power of propaganda…
It’s for the ferry operator to determine what design best serves their needs, and can serve as backup when necessary on other routes – I’d rather trust in their judgement given all they have to deal with than the opinion of a wee man in West Kilbride who believes the tripe published in the Herald
To the vast majority who depend on Calmac, there is no “shambles”, there was no “fiasco”, much as users of QEUH never found it “troubled”.
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