Professor John Robertson OBA, Ferry Accountant of the Year
From Brian Wilson, one -time Blairite minister, now apparently Ferry Correspondent for the Herald, the Scotsman and the Stornoway Gazette, two days ago, this:
A CalMac manager apologised for “the current and unique pressure on vessel availability” following a series of failures within the ageing fleet have caused severe disruption for travellers to and from South Uist and Barra. The latest development means that Lochboisdale will continue to be served until mid-April by the MV Isle of Mull which has a passenger carrying capacity limited to just 45 because of safety issues.
John Daniel Peteranna of South Uist Business Impact Group described the situation as “unbelievable” and criticised CalMac for not moving ferries around in order to ease disruption on the Oban-Lochboisdale route.
This is just a re-tread of the same story published by BBC Scotland on 29 December 2024:
They open with:
Ferry operator CalMac has been forced to cut passengers numbers on its MV Isle of Mull vessel to just 45 after it failed a safety check.
Problems were identified with the ship’s evacuation system during its annual overhaul.
CalMac has confirmed passenger numbers must be temporarily limited to reflect the spaces available on its lifeboats.
BBC Scotland open with the above before going on to milk the story for a further 7 paragraphs before this:
CalMac says passenger bookings on the Lochboisdale route very rarely exceed 45 passengers per sailing at this time of year. At the time the restrictions were brought in, there were no bookings exceeding the 45 passengers per sailing limit.
So, the headline story is ‘Nothing to report here?
So 45 or less booked on the MV Isle of Mull over the winter months, even at New Year? How many can she take?
900!
FFS and she sails with 45 or less? Who’s paying for that? You and me. Are the islanders grateful? You bet they’re not.
Joe, above, is from Somerset and may be the Mull person I heard on Radio Scotland, a few years back, saying CalMac is the worst ferry service in the world.
Is the MV Isle of Mull the only largely empty ferry sailing steadily through the winter?
I have previously checked the Arran service for this very thing:
In a year, CalMac makes around 4 000 sailings (not inc cancellations) between Ardrossan and Brodick.1
In 2022, they carried 692 518 passengers and 183 092 cars.2
So on average, each sailing took around 173 passengers and 45 cars.
The MV Caledonian Isles, operating the route in 2022, takes up to 1 000 passengers and 110 cars.3
So, accepting the ferry may well be full in high summer even with increased sailings, this suggests quite a lot of spare capacity in the system, massively subsidised for a population of only 5 000.
Sources:
- https://www.calmac.co.uk/article/2607/Route-Performance–CalMac-Ferries
- https://www.calmac.co.uk/article/9241/Carrying-Statistics-2022—text-version
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Caledonian_Isles
Are the Arran islanders grateful. Most probably are but enough, typically not born there, are ever ready to contact the media when the service fails to meet their southern sense of entitlement.
Is CalMac worst in the world? What do you think? Over the last few years, I’ve looked at them all.
Here’s a better candidate:
Washington State Ferries in the USA have just announced new prices for the popular 15 miles, 1 hour crossing of the sheltered Puget Sound, between Bremerton and Seattle – $54.35 or £43.30.
https://mynorthwest.com/3959021/travel-alert-washington-ferry-prices-go-up-amid-waves-riders/
The popular 14.3 miles, 1 hour 20 minutes crossing of the, at times very stormy, Firth of Clyde, from Brodick, Arran to Ardrossan, is £30.20.
How is this possible?
In 2022/2023, the SNP Government ferry subsidy to keep prices down to affordable levels for hopefully grateful islanders, native or settler, was £173 MILLION!
There are many mainland villages in Scotland with far longer journey times from larger towns or city centres without comparable help. The ferry users group chairs should write to the Herald and BBC Scotland, tell them to zip it for fear of attracting public scrutiny of their subsidies, then zip it themselves. I know it’s hard if you’ve just retired from being Chief Executive of Arsechester Dairies, to a Scottish island, to stop talking, but do try.
Footnote – why was he sacked? This:
He was sacked after defending a fellow columnist who wrote a piece about the spread of Islam in the UK. In his last column on 22 May, Donald Macleod, a Free Church professor of theology, wrote: “All minorities prefer to keep a low profile and avoid trouble.
“Generations of British Muslims have done exactly that, many have made an invaluable contribution to British society, and many are perfectly prepared to listen quietly while Christians ‘witness’ to them. But when minorities become majorities, things change… in the event of Islamic dominance in Britain our friendly Muslim shopkeepers will have little option but to march behind the radicals.”
In response, Mr Wilson wrote in his column last week that Mr Macleod’s piece was “leading on to wider questions about Islamic influence within Europe, including implications for democracy and freedom”.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
They ‘businesses’ will have no ferries at all if the BritNat state takes over Holyrood in 2026, they’ll be swimming to the mainland…be careful what you wish for people of the Scottish islands…it could get much ‘worse’ to use Starmer’s only honest prediction/ and Labcons’ policy yet.
The BritEng state would be delighted (and be in doubt would facilitate that) to see Scotland’s islanders caste adrift, watch out folks!
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Ferries half empty being subsidised by the Scottish Gov. The new innovative ferries, built in Scotland will save £Billions in fuel. Harbour charges £10,000 a night in larger ports. Ferries need to restock and reload. There are also subsidised flights.
Orkney is recognised as one of the best places to live in the world. Followed by other Scottish islands. Plenty of tourists in the summer. One ferry doing daily trips per islanders. A more than adequate service. Weather can get in the way. The weather cannot be controlled. For safety reasons.
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LIARS AND CHEATS ARE IN ABUNDANCE IN ALL ROYALIST UNIONISISTS
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Some excellent points made there John. Some folks just don’t want to know the true facts as it doesn’t suit their agenda. Wilson is one of them.
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Imagine the Scottish Government treated Islanders the way the UK Government is treating Pensioners , WASPI women , the Disabled ….’nuff said !
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I must admit, I had thought that Maritime Williams was about the worst that the Herald could possibly assign to the “Ferries / Attack the SNP / Made up Stories” brief.
Just shows you how wrong you can be.
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Sorry O/ T again John but……..
With Baillie and Gulhane being given the red carpet by the BBC and STV to freely slander the SNP Scottish Government on GP numbers, they omit comparison with the British Labour government and British Tory governments track record on failing primary care in England.
John Swinney Scottish National Party 5:17, 20 February 2025
The number of GPs per 100,000 of the population in Scotland stands at 82. In England, it is 64; in Wales, it is 67; and in Northern Ireland, it is 75. There are more GPs available in Scotland as a consequence of the investment that the Government has made, with 307 GPs being added since 2007.
The number of GPs per 100,000 of…: 20 Feb 2025: Scottish Parliament debates – TheyWorkForYou
BMA data for England states that “England has a shortage of GP’s.
Pressures in general practice data analysis
Surely honest journalism, especially from a public service broadcaster and one that most people are forced to pay for, should at the very least offer comparison and context to ensure that the reader or viewer has been offered the full facts.
It is obvious that the BBC and STV are now Der Angriff and have now begun their anti Scotland diatribes a year ahead of the Holyrood elections.
JB
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Wilson uses the same tired old clichés as every Herald journalist has throughout, but it is the feigned concern for islanders which rankles most – Island communities are not the type of people who would stay quiet were there a serious issue, there’d be a petition signed by every islander delivered to Holyrood were it so.
Instead it’s a very different community who are almost always cited, the business community, a tiny minority of the populace with profit as the name of the game – It’s been a red flag from the very beginning of this long running propaganda campaign.
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