Professor John Robertson OBA
BBC Scotland has, today, been working oh so hard to turn this story around so that it reflects badly on CalMac and, by association, the Scottish Government, with this sort of comment:
Ferry operator CalMac is trying to recover millions of pounds of repair costs for a ship that has been out of action for 18 months – and is still not fixed. CalMac is now seeking compensation from Cammell Laird over problems discovered when the ship returned to Scotland last September, after the Merseyside firm carried out the first phase of work. The 32-year-old ship was moved to the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead for a “highly complex” repair operation which required removal of the ship’s engines.
The work, said at the time to cost around £5m, was completed [clearly not] last September but when the ship sailed back to Scotland the crew noticed a gearbox problem and metal shards were discovered in a filter.
Half of CalMac’s 10 major vessels have now reached or are beyond their 30-year expected service life.1
Notice the use of ‘Merseyside‘ rather than ‘England.’
Metal shards were discovered in a filter? Shoddy workmanship spotted during inspection, ignored in the hope they’d get away with it?
30-year expected service life? The average age of a BBC Ferries (British Columbia, Canada) vessel is 36. In New Zealand, it’s 34, In Australia, it’s 36. In Norway, it’s 30.3
Where was she built? Clydeside? Sadly not – Richards Shipbuilders Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, used to much smaller vessels, in 1993, only months before they shut down finally.2 Why did they get the contract? Ask the Conservative Scottish Executive at the time.
In North America, vessels up to 90 years-old are still in service. Several of CalMac’s older boats are still operating in Ireland.
Sources:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Cammell Laird contributed hugely to the two UK aircraft carriers
( Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales ) which are constantly in need of repair ! Just saying !
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Aye, noted Calumny Watson’s ‘CalMac bid to reclaim costs for fault-prone Arran ferry’ pitch earlier https://archive.ph/VafUf, presumably James Cook has finally figured folks having ignored the ‘troubled QEUH’ pitch for almost a decade needed something else to ignore…
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whilst I have sympathy for islanders inconvenienced by ferries, for whatever reason, not operating, I have two suggestions
John Lawson
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ENGLISH ENGINEERING AT ITS WORST
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I think many people living and working on Scottish Islands forget the Scottish Government (SNP) introduced Equivalent Road Tariff (ERT) to encourage people to travel and holiday on the islands. ERT reduced the cost of passenger and car fares. I don’t think the government realised the uptake of visitors to the islands would be as great as it is. Eg when I travelled to Arran pre ERT it cost me around £105 for my car and 2 passengers. When ERT was introduced this cost was reduced to £45! Most of the islands relay on tourists to boost the islands economy. The Scottish Government have done the islands well. Maybe the influx of foreigners to the islands should sit back and consider if a Tory or Labour government should take control of the SG, ERT could be removed!!!
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