Tag: photography

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400 passengers stranded in Bilbao on a day when Brittany ferries cancels, brings forward or delays, 5 out of only 14 sailings in a ferry fiasco while CalMac does 97% of 506 sailings on time

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From MSN today: BRITTANY FERRIES HAS apologised to hundreds of passengers who are stuck on a ferry in the Port of Bilbao due to a “technical problem”.    The Galicia ferry, which travels from Rosslare to Bilbao and is operated by Brittany Ferries, was due to sail at 4pm Irish time.  However, the journey was abandoned because of a technical problem, which is understood to have affected one of the vessel’s engines. There are thought to be approximately 400 passengers onboard.  Imagine that happened in Scotland. From Brittany Ferries today: 2 out of only 14 cancelled and 4 moved to … Continue reading 400 passengers stranded in Bilbao on a day when Brittany ferries cancels, brings forward or delays, 5 out of only 14 sailings in a ferry fiasco while CalMac does 97% of 506 sailings on time

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Korean ferry fiasco as 7 out of 10 are not equipped to respond to electric vehicle fires

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It’s never-ending once you start looking abroad, as a Mull Tory councillor from Buckingham, once suggested we do, for ways to improve CalMac, the as he put it, ‘worst ferry service in the world.’ Turns out he was full of hot air. When you do look, you keep finding the opposite and with every investigation it becomes clear that thanks to 17 years of SNP subsidy, Scotland actually has the best – most frequent, most reliable, cheapest and safest – ferry service in the world. Only yesterday, I could write: You can now add Tasmania to New Zealand, Greece, Isle … Continue reading Korean ferry fiasco as 7 out of 10 are not equipped to respond to electric vehicle fires

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The SNP’s phantom decorators – A new sisterhood in Scotland’s mainstream media revealed – Daily Record/Sunday Mail and Scottish Daily Express!

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By stewartb Once upon a time not so long ago these ‘Scottish’ newspapers – the Daily Record/Sunday Mail and the Scottish Daily Express – would occupy quite different places on the political spectrum on most issues.  That was then and after all, we’ve been told we are in a time of ‘change’!  Of course they would be united for the Union and this is probably the key factor in this tale! On Sunday 6 October, the Sunday Mail on its front page and website had this ‘exclusive’: On the same day, the Scottish Daily Express had this: Note the journalists … Continue reading The SNP’s phantom decorators – A new sisterhood in Scotland’s mainstream media revealed – Daily Record/Sunday Mail and Scottish Daily Express!

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Water companies in England & Wales fined ‘infinitely’ more per head for poor performance than Scottish Water

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From BBC Science & Environment, this morning: Water companies have been ordered to return £158m to customers via lower bills next year after missing key targets on issues like pollution. The industry regulator Ofwat announced the rebate following its annual review of water and wastewater companies’ performance in England and Wales. Google AI searches find no examples of rebates from Scottish Water but does suggest discounts for those businesses on lower incomes. With regard, to fines, the AI Overview does seem to have some cheer for Unionists, with: Scottish Water has been fined multiple times for environmental and health and … Continue reading Water companies in England & Wales fined ‘infinitely’ more per head for poor performance than Scottish Water

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Population size of Arran to have no ferry service at all for nearly two months in affluent Canadian Nova Scotland

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From CTV News today: The ferry service between Saint John, N.B., and Digby, N.S., will be out of commission for nearly two months due to mandatory work in Quebec. The MV Fundy Rose will go to the Verreault Shipyard at Les Méchins, Que., for biannual drydock and refit work, according to a news release from Bay Ferries Limited(opens in a new tab). The work will put the ferry out of service from Oct. 15 to Dec. 3. https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/more/saint-john-ferry-going-out-of-service-for-nearly-two-months-marine-atlantic-ferry-sailings-disrupted-1.7064591 There is only one ferry operating this 2 hour 30 min service, to a population of around 5 000 in Digby, Lunenberg and … Continue reading Population size of Arran to have no ferry service at all for nearly two months in affluent Canadian Nova Scotland

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Good news as CalMac has the capacity to replace one Arran ferry and maintain a service still cheap as chips

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The Ardrossan Herald is keen to dramatize the simple smooth replacement of a replacement ferry by another as a ‘double whammy‘ and to characterise the replacement as ‘ageing.’ There will still be two ferries serving the 5 000 population of Arran, massively subsidised to offer the lowest prices in the western world, by the rest of us, linked to either Ardrossan or Troon, both perfectly convenient for Glasgow. As we move off-season, the vessels will be commonly less than half full. In a year, CalMac makes around 4 000 sailings (not inc cancellations) between Ardrossan and Brodick.1 In 2022, they carried 692 … Continue reading Good news as CalMac has the capacity to replace one Arran ferry and maintain a service still cheap as chips

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UK Labour Transport Secretary does not even mention Isle of Wight’s ferry fiasco

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From Island Echo, yesterday: Isle of Wight East MP Joe Robertson says that Islanders should be ‘deeply concerned’ that no mention was given to ferries in a keynote speech by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh this week. At the Labour Party Conference on Monday, Louise talked about ‘ripping up the roots of Thatcherism’ across UK transport but made no reference at all to ferries. The Secretary of State for Transport spoke extensively about trains and buses and mentioned flying, cycling and walking. But the lack of any mention of ferries – including cross-Solent ferries – has raised questions as to whether … Continue reading UK Labour Transport Secretary does not even mention Isle of Wight’s ferry fiasco

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Struggling Canadian ferry service, average vessel age 13 years older than CalMac to replace seven by 2037

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From a September 2022, Ernst and Young LLP survey for the Scottish Government’s Transport Scotland department, CalMac ferries are, on average, newer (22) than those in Norway (26), Australia (24) and British Columbia, Canada (35!). https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/strategic-framework-of-options-for-the-chfs-network-project-neptune/benchmarking From the Tyee in October 2023: The Crisis at BC Ferries – Why no reservations frequently means long waits on the main routes. https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/10/23/Crisis-BC-Ferries/ So, time to get on with so new ferry-building eh? From Marine Link, today: Canadian ferry operator BC Ferries announced it is moving forward with a program to build a series of new vessels for its busiest routes. The company said on … Continue reading Struggling Canadian ferry service, average vessel age 13 years older than CalMac to replace seven by 2037

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The Herald’s so-obvious Cartunionist has another lazy dig at the best ferry service in the world

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The Herald’s third-best cartoonist, Steven Camley, like one of those drunk ‘wits’ in a bar, tries to turn the news of whale-spotting made easy by Scotland’s ferries into one of those ‘Aye, aye, very good, I’m sure but my pal in Brodick wiz late for a medical appointment because that Sturgeon messed up the ferries’ moments. It’s his regular, lazy, thick trope. See these: It’s a sad state of affairs that the above pub-level banality passes for political satire at the Herald. To waste more time on his output considered, see: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=Camley On ferries, here’s why his infantile pokes are not … Continue reading The Herald’s so-obvious Cartunionist has another lazy dig at the best ferry service in the world

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8% of the population but 25% of the top universities and all of the safest campuses*

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From the Guardian’s The best UK universities 2025 list – rankings, published today, pro rata, per head, Scotland might be expected to have 2 of the top 20 universities in the UK but has 5. In 2019*, we had: Scotland’s university cities the safest in the UK by a very long way From the Complete University Guide 2019, we can see that the overall fall in crime in Scotland in the last ten, or so, years is reflected in the relative safety of university campuses. Of particular interest is the level of crime (incidents per 1 000 residents) reported in Glasgow, … Continue reading 8% of the population but 25% of the top universities and all of the safest campuses*