Professor John Robertson OBA
From Global News yesterday:
BC Ferries is going to get four new major vessels for its fleet. The new vessels will replace the aging Queens of Alberni [49], New Westminster [61], Coquitlam [49], and Cowichan [49], which are the oldest major ships still in use.
BC Ferries applied for five new diesel-battery hybrid, all-electric-ready ships, but the independent British Columbia Ferries Commissioner approved four. This news comes as the Queen of Oak Bay suffered a mechanical issue on Monday morning.
None of these vessels is even specified or designed yet, never mind actually ordered. The official word is 2029-2031, by which time the New Westminster will be 65 or more. Of course, official plans for major capital projects are often extended
The oldest active major [sea-going] vessel in the CalMac fleet is the 42 year-old MV Isle of Arran with the Isle of Mull next, at 39. CalMac has 5 new larger ferries already built or being built and 7 new smaller ones on order.
CalMac ferries are not just younger than BC ferries, on average, but:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
OT but article in Guardian about patient satisfaction survey of NHS (England, Scotland and Wales). Lumped together gives grim reading but I wonder what the figures for different parts are?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/02/patient-satisfaction-with-nhs-has-hit-record-low-of-21-survey-finds
Jon M
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Such whataboutery will not change Brian Wilson’s opinion that any vessel of greater age than his mentality is part of an ‘ageing fleet’….
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Didn’t see this across ‘our’ media, after all The herald and STV, are shouting about “new direct flights from Glasgow to ‘fantastic’ holiday destination”
Glasgow Airport sees new twice-weekly Malta flight launched | The Herald
Ryanair announces new direct flights to Malta | STV News
People stranded at Gozo fast ferry terminals after gangway falls in sea.
No politician, no MP, no council, no councillor, no government or government official and no ferry operator blamed.
From The Times of Malta 2 March 2025.
People stranded at Gozo fast ferry terminals after gangway falls in sea
Voyages were cancelled due to a “technical issue” according to Gozo Highspeed, the ferry owner. People were left stranded at the ferry terminals with others being stranded on the ferry itself.
The problem?
The ferry’s gangway at the Gozo port fell into the sea.
We don’t need to imagine how this would have been reported if it happened in Scotland to a Calmac ferry.
Speaking of Malta ferries, a review from a holiday maker on trip advisor, focuses on Malta’s ferry chaos!!!
“When we arrived at Cirkewwa Ferry Terminal, I couldn’t see any sign about where to queue or how the ticketing system works. We were let on the ferry not through a proper entrance for foot passengers, but through the entrance for cars. I had a 20 Kg suitcase with me, so I tried to find someone who could explain if I could avoid hauling a heavy suitcase to the seating area via the stairs. I couldn’t find anyone. Neither could I locate a lift. So I lifted and carried the suitcase on the stairs.
Just outside the Gozo Ferry Terminal, there is a big sign with fares for different parts of Gozo, and for Victoria it said €13 (the most recent Lonely Planet, published in Feb 2019 says this journey should cost about €10, so possibly the fares have been recently revised). My BnB in Victoria was as central as it gets, a 2 minute walk from Independence Square (and reached before it), and yet the taxi driver couldn’t resist trying to extort another €2 from me (which I refused).
Coming back from Gozo to Malta, at the ferry terminal, when we were queuing to go through the ticket barrier (turnstile), we stopped making progress at one stage and just stood still for a while. Nobody explained or announced why we were being held up just as a ferry was just about to leave. I finally got fed up and found out through my own enquiries that the ferry which was leaving was “full” and that we will be allowed to go through the turnstile after the current ferry left.
It also emerged that the good people who designed the entry system at Gozo ferry terminal forgot that sometimes people carry bags and suitcases. The turnstile was only suitable for a person on his two feet. I was “helped” by throwing my suitcase to the floor and kicking it under and across the turnstile.
When the ferry reached Malta, it was announced that we will get off through a footbridge. So everyone moved toward the appropriate exit. Then they announced – change of plans, everyone goes through the exit for cars (i.e. go down via the stairs and then out). This time though I managed to find someone who directed me to a lift.
About the ferry ( Malta <-> Gozo) timetables – these are purely expressions of intent. Ferries leave when they are ready.”
Reasons to go, and NOT go – Malta Forum – Tripadvisor
Next time someone from Arran, the Outer Hebrides or even Millport complains about the best ferry service in the world, highly subsidised, run by Calmac and owned by the Scottish people we should tell them to quite literally go to Malta!!!
JB
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