In the Daily Mail, 8 January 2026 and the astonishing images above from the Independent two years ago:

Almost a third of the lifeline ferries operating in Washington state are out of action because of lawmakers’ obsessions with electric boats, Republicans have claimed. 

Six out of the 21 vessels used for critical operations off the coast of the Pacific Northwest state are currently unable to sail, according to the Seattle Times. 

Two of the boats have been out of action due to ‘unexpected mechanical issues’ since January 1, while four are on planned maintenance, per the paper. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15445653/washington-state-ferry-electric-boats-democrats.html

Washington State Ferries carry 20 million passengers a year in a state with 8 million people and a GDP of £658bn.

CalMac has 36 vessels with 5 arriving soon compared to WSF’s 15 in-service, above, carrying only 5 million passengers in country with 5.5 million people and a GDP of only £188bn.

Lots of numbers there but I think it’s clear that with less wealth to pay for them, far more ferries per passenger in Scotland.

Punctuality?

Washington State Ferries in the USA – state-subsidised but no public performance penalty regime even with 72% on-time rate in Q1 FY2025 vs. 95% target.

https://wsdot.wa.gov/travel/washington-state-ferries/about-us/ferries-accountability-and-service-data

Makes you wonder what CalMac’s on-time rate was? Based on same principle of including only actual sailings, 99.57%.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24404354.sham-1000s-lost-sailings-missing-calmacs-reliability/

How old are the boats?

In affluent Washington State:

Washington State Ferries Assistant Secretary John Vezina spoke with the legislature last week, spelling out just how bad it is. I don’t know a lot about boats, but they have shelf lives. In the private sector, boats or ships, think cruise lines, are retired much faster than our ferries.

“Boats (in the private sector) are kept in service for 20 to 25 years,” Vezina said. “Ours are expected to last for 60.”

And that means a lot of extra money to keep them in service. The state ferry fleet is old. The oldest boat is 67.

“Five of those vessels are over 50 years old, and five are over 40, so 11 of our 21-vessel fleet is beyond the vessel lifespan that most maritime organizations would operate their vessels,” Vezina told lawmakers.

The average age of the boats is 35.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/just-how-old-is-our-state-ferry-system-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/ar-AA1UAf9X?ocid=BingNewsVerp

How old are the CalMac ferries?

Average age is 27 years and oldest large ferry is 43 with, of course none over 50:

https://assets.calmac.co.uk/media/o23jvbqb/david-macbrayne-limited-annual.pdf

Anything else that might make you think ‘Hey that CalMac could be far worse’ eh?

Missed doctor appointments, hours-long delays, students unable to get to school and flooded car decks look like continuing as Washington State Ferries delays new electric ferries and bring aging old diesels back into service