MINISTERS were warned 11 years ago by the head of its own ferry operating company about the need for urgent investment to arrest the decline of the nation's lifeline island fleet, the Herald on Sunday can reveal.
But since the SNP came to power in 2007, the average of Scotland's lifeline vessels has soared from 17 years to 23.6 years. Back in 1974 the typical ferry was just 13 years old.
Peter Timms, chairman of ferry operator CalMac warned the government in 2010 that ferry investment had been "slipping behind for decades" and produced an analysis which concluded that finance was urgently required on a longer term, regular basis "to just stand still".
Since his warning only five vessels have been launched to support the network, and only two are considered as major ferries. They are the 5626 tonne MV Finlaggan, built in Poland in 2011 and the 9058 tonne MV Loch Seaforth built in Germany and launched in 2014.
Before his warning vessels were being produced at a rate of one every 14 months. Afterwards ferries were typically being produced every 33.6 months.
Meanwhile the delivery of new lifeline island ferries MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802, languishing in state-owned Ferguson Marine's Port Glasgow yard, which were due online in the first half of 2018, is over four years late, with costs doubling to over £200m.
It comes as a cross party group of MSPs have registered their anger over the state of the ferry services and a summer of breakdowns involving the nation's ageing fleet.
It comes after the Scottish Parliament's economy and connectivity committee's probe into the construction of the two overdue and over-budget ferries for state-controlled CalMac branded the management process a "catastrophic failure".
The Herald on Sunday has previously revealed that 16 of CalMac's 31 working ferries deployed across Scotland is now over 25 years old.
Glen Sannox in dock last year.
Donald Cameron, Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands region said: "It is astonishing that the SNP hasn’t delivered the required new ferries, having first been made aware by Calmac of the need to regularly replace the fleet over a decade ago.
“That is a complete dereliction of duty by SNP ministers and there are serious questions over why these warnings weren’t heeded.
“In addition, it's extraordinary that ferry bosses continue to sit in silence about this failure while islanders still suffer a wholly unreliable ferry service. Honesty and transparency are key if island communities are to have any confidence in how vital ferry services are going to be delivered in the future.”
The message from Mr Timms, in response to a 2010 Scottish Government ferries review said: "Investment in new ferry infrastructure has been slipping behind for decades, reducing the quality of our services and creating a situation where catch-up will have to be undertaken in emergency conditions, needing much more investment than if a continuous replacement policy had been adopted.
"It is clear that no matter how many assurances are given about responding to community needs, or providing lifeline services in order to enable rural communities to contribute to the national good, the ability to deliver these well intentioned aims very quickly comes down to the availability of funding for services that are vital to a special group of Scotland's people.
"The urgency of the task cannot be overstated.
Video: MV Finlaggan's construction and arrival on Islay
"MV Finlaggan which is due to go into service in May 2011 is the first new vessel in the CHFS (Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service) network for four years and with plans for another vessel for Stornoway/Ullapool still up in the air, the paucity of the new vessel programme for the Clyde and Western Isles is startlingly evident."
He went on: "The existence of modern, efficient and affordable ferry services is a vital catalyst to other forms of investment and economic activity in the islands and communities served.
"Across our network, people are making important decisions about where to live, where to run businesses, where to bring up children and the ability to move themselves and goods freely is a key part of their decision processes."
His commentary came with CalMac's own analysis of the future which stated: "A change is required to the funding mechanism because it is apparent that the government and local authorities cannot, or will not, fund the capital improvements that are now urgently required to support an efficient service.
"Capital investments have generally long lead-times and many assets are already well beyond effective use and are impediments to provision of sustainable lifeline service and plain good value for money."
The ferry operator warned that in tandem with the increasing fleet age, the rate of bringing new vessels into service had been reducing over time.
"It is evident that new sources of capital funding are urgently required if the increasing fleet age profile is to be arrested or reduced," CalMac stated.
"Even where islands have a very limited potential to perform better, investment will still be needed on a longer term, regular basis to just 'stand still' and ensure that the provision of a new vessel and facilities are at least catered for when the existing 'kit' becomes time expired."
The CalMac warning emerged after a summer of ferry disruptions which led to a cross-party group of MSPs joining forces to speak out over the state of the nation's ferry services.
Orcadian Jamie Halcro Johnston, Scottish Conservative Highlands and Islands MSP and shadow minister for business, trade, tourism and enterprise sought Scottish Parliament to acknowledge the "urgent need for a Scotland-wide ferries strategy that ensures the resilience of the network into the future".
He said: "If it was Glasgow or Edinburgh that faced such challenges, it would be considered a national emergency. A national scandal even.
"But while we’ve had a succession of SNP transport ministers come to our islands and make promises, island communities have had little confidence any of these promises would ever be delivered.
"Since the rural, economy and connectivity committee concluded its damning report on the issues at Ferguson Marine, things have gone from bad to worse on the banks of the Clyde.
"My concern is that the problems we see – largely on the west coast for now – are a vision of the future for other island communities as the ferries that serve them continue to be pushed to operate well beyond their projected working life."
Kenneth Gibson, SNP MSP for Cunninghame North, which covers the island communities of Arran and Cumbrae and is the Scottish Parliament finance and public administration committee convenor said that confidence in ferry services was at "an all time low".
"Although many factors are unforeseeable, CalMac's approach to handling bad weather, COVID-19 and technical difficulties result in resentment and frustration.
"Such challenges need creative customer centred solutions and I trust that these are being considered.
"Island constituents don't accept that cancellations is the only course of action. It cannot be the case that we head into another winter in the current circumstances.
"Nor are our islanders happy that communication regarding cancellations continues to be haphazard and often late in the day."
Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain, the former convenor of the rural economy and connectivity committee branded the management process a "catastrophic failure" and said: “This whole sorry saga of mismanagement of the ferries makes it likely that it could be made in to a film.
"The title would obviously be ‘Carry on without the ferries’ with a working title of ‘£300m spent and still no boats'."
Lewis resident Alasdair Allan, the SNP MSP for Na h-Eileanan and a former minister for international development and Europe said he was aware that during the summer at one point people simply could not travel anywhere "for almost any reason".
"Nobody is under any illusions about all the challenges that lie ahead.
"Services in future will be more likely to improve if anyone on the CalMac and CMAL [the ferry owners, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited] boards actually lived on an island that depended on the ferry services."
The transport minister Graeme Dey said: "I understand the frustration and potential economic impact during periods of disruption.
"The recent issues on the Clyde and Hebrides service were unacceptable to island communities. Although every effort is made to avoid breakdowns, it is impossible to remove completely the risk of them happening in technically complex vessels and - yes - some elderly vessels.
"During times of disruption, CalMac Ferries strives to provide additional sailings and to redeploy vessels if it is appropriate and possible to do so. However, I totally understand the anger felt by people who are directly impacted when the impacts cannot be fully mitigated. I assure members that I remain focused on the underlying issues with resilience on the ferry network and that we are working closely with operators in that regard.
"Kenny Gibson made a good point about communication. Islanders accept that things happen at times, but I do not necessarily accept that the operator has always been as on point as it might have been in communication. I hope that we are starting to see some improvement in that regard."
Robbie Drummond, CalMac managing director said: “CalMac staff really care and strive to provide the best possible service to passengers, particularly during what has been an incredibly tough and challenging year. The decision to cancel sailings is never taken lightly and is only done with the safety of customers and crew in mind. While we aim to communicate about disruption quickly and effectively, I accept that we do not get this right 100% of the time but our aim is to strive for continuous improvement in the service we provide to our customers.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “We have announced investment of £580 million in ports and vessels to support and improve Scotland’s ferry services over the next five years, as part of our wider Infrastructure Investment Plan, unveiled in February.
“We continue to work constructively with partners and key stakeholders to progress a sustainable and efficient fleet replacement programme."
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