THE REPLACEMENT of one of the oldest Scottish ferries in the fleet is estimated to be running seven years late and is not expected to be built till at least the middle of 2023, the Herald can reveal.
Plans to replace the ageing ferry serving Islay have not yet even gone out to tender - four years after the Scottish Government's transport agency said it would actually have been built.
Islay islanders believe the 'fiasco' delays to building two ferries at newly nationalised Ferguson Marine have had a knock on effect on the progress of what transport minister Humza Yousaf said two years ago would help support its growing economy.
The dual fuel replacement Arran ferry Glen Sannox and her sister - Vessel 802 - were due to enter service in mid-2018 but the calamitous contract has doubled in price - and is now estimated at £300m - while work on the vessels will not be finished until at least 2022 - four years late.
READ MORE: First Minister's "great regret" over state of Scotland's busiest lifeline ferry
It was five years ago, that Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow was handed the £97 million contract to build the two ferries.
Last year distillers on Islay said they were facing major problems in transporting whisky over to the Scottish mainland because of a capacity crisis on the ferry links.
CalMac, the taxpayer-owned ferry operator, has traditionally served Islay with two vessels, the MV Finlaggan and the 37-year-old MV Hebridean Isles, one of the oldest in the 36-vessel Scottish fleet.
According to an eight-year-old Transport Scotland plan, the estimated timing for replacing MV Hebridean was up to 2016, and sources have said the two vessels do not offer the capacity Islay needs to service its whisky and tourism sectors.
The new ferry to complement MV Finlaggen is to have a clear focus on freight and sufficient passenger accommodation to meet anticipated demand.
But according to the latest Transport Scotland estimates, a shipbuilding contract for the new Islay vessel is not expected to be awarded until the Autumn of this year, with the first phase of the tender not being initiated till the summer of this year.
READ MORE: First Minister intervention call over 'parlous state' of Scotland's busiest ferry
In 2016, Transport Scotland's Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan had stressed that the MV Hebridean Isles should be the next ferry to be replaced.
And two years ago Mr Yousaf in a statement titled "Islay ferry pledge" said that officials were investigating potential designs.
Islay Community Council's ferry committee has raised its concerns about the delays with ministers complete with a dossier of issues that have beset the route from the Argyll and Bute mainland hamlet of Kennacraig to the island.
It said that if there had not been the delays in building Glen Sannox and her sister Vessel 802, the replacement ferry might even have been place in 2022 - six years later than planned - but it now fears it will not be delivered until the middle of 2023.
Ferry committee chairman Jim Porteous said: "A key reason for the delay has been the Ferguson Marine debacle and the delay in completion of the the ships at their yard."
The side launch of the CalMac ferry Hebridean Isles at Selby in the 1980s.
The committee said that in September 2018 alone, a peak time for the Islay route, 19 sailings were cancelled due to a redeployment of one of the Islay vessels to support the Arran service. Ten further sailings were cancelled in March, last year for similar reasons.
In December 2019, there were eight cancelled sailings after the Islay ferry was redeployed to cover Oban, due to a ferry breakdown.
The committee said: "Without action, further ongoing disruption can be expected for the Islay service, including inability to travel and extra costs for residents, lack of ferry capacity for trades people and visitors and major income losses for the tourism industry."
On March 23, two meetings will be held in Islay to discuss the requirements and specifications of the new ferry. They will be hosted by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), the taxpayer-funded company which owns ferries and other infrastructure used by publicly-owned operator CalMac, which will also be represented with Transport Scotland officials.
Jim Anderson, director of vessels at CMAL, said: “We are working closely with all parties to develop the specification for a vessel that meets requirements and supports the island’s economic activities."
In 2018, there were 12,072 crossings by commercial vehicles between Islay and Kennacraig on the mainland in 2018, 844 or 7.52% more than the year before. That number is forecast to rise on the back of new distillery openings.
Last year, it was forecast whisky production on the island will increase by 33 per cent in the next three years.
With increased numbers visiting Islay because of the growing popularity of whisky tourism, it was estimated that an additional 12,000 extra car spaces will be needed by 2023.
Transport Scotland said: “Ministers have committed to a new ferry for the Islay service. Transport Scotland and the Steering Group are currently taking forward design and specification for the new vessel which is ‘based on’ the lead vessel on the route, the MV Finlaggan, as a starting point in terms of vessel dimensions."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel