Professor John Robertson OBA

In the Jersey Evening Post on 15 October 2025:

Representatives said they had “zero involvement” in the tender and warned that rising freight costs under the new arrangements were forcing them to find hundreds of thousands of pounds to balance their budgets, with Morrison’s alone facing a shortfall of up to £400,000.

Portsmouth to Jersey is 116 miles and CalMac’s longest, Oban to Barra is 88 miles. The Jersey crossing is 1.32 times the length.

For a Large Articulated HGV (16.5m, ~30 pallets), a one way trip from Portsmouth to Jersey, costs £2 370.^{1, 2}

For a Large Articulated HGV (16.5m, ~30 pallets), a one way trip from Oban to Barra, costs £432. The Jersey crossing cost is almost 6 times greater.

Sources:

1. https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2025/02/20/dfds-introduces-flat-rate-for-jersey-freight-services-to-bring-greater-transparency/
2. https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2025/10/06/new-dfds-rate-card-will-shine-a-light-on-obscure-freight-logistics-sector/
3. https://www.calmac.co.uk/en-gb/faqs/commercial-vehicles/commercial-vehicle-rates/

How is this possible? We’re all paying to subsidise CalMac. See:

As the Herald insists island communities deserve ferry services that are fit for purpose how they get 10 TIMES the subsidy for their ferries than those in more affluent British Columbia, to keep fares amongst the lowest in the developed world

You can support Talking-up Scotland at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/checkout/help-talking-up-scotland-tell-truth-about-scotland/payment/nBQxjVzq/details or by direct bank transfer method - Bernadette/John Robertson, Sort code 08-91-04, Account 12266421