ISLANDERS have launched a plan for a possible community takeover of ferry services from CalMac.
The Mull and Iona Ferry Committee (MIFC) is to undertake a feasibility study looking at community ownership of ferries in the wake of concerns over continuing disruption to services with an ageing fleet.
The study will look at whether services could be run by the communities themselves as an alternative to what it calls the current monopoly controlled by Scottish Government-controlled bodies.
There has been concern that the services are “cocooned” inside four levels of Scottish Government control with the Transport Scotland agency as funders, the procuring and vessel owning company, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL), the ferry operators Calmac and the now nationalised shipbuilders Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow).
The group have prepared a tender for an independent consultant to examine the different forms a community-owned ferry company could take, and to assess the feasibility of such an undertaking.
They are then to present the findings to island communities for their views on whether it can go ahead with taking services to Mull and Iona from Scottish Government-controlled ferry operator CalMac.
It comes after Pentland Ferries and Western Ferries called for ministers to consider the breaking up of Scotland’s ferry network to improve provision.
The First Minister has previously insisted there are no plans to unbundle routes - which would raise concerns that the most lucrative routes would be sold off to private firms.
Joe Reade, chairman of MIFC, said it should not be assumed that the current authorities know how to run a ferry service.
And he believes the study could provide lessons for a wider unbundling of services for other island communities.
“The feasibiity study is about looking at ways to to run such a ferry service. Do you have a private investor, or go into partnership with another ferry operators. Might we need to recruit the services of a ferry management company?
“The Scottish Government itself has undertaken a root and branch review of ferry services but remains completely wedded to centralised control of ferries in Gourock and Edinburgh, many miles from the island communities who are being badly let down day in day out,” he said.
“Rather than doing the same thing over and over and crossing our fingers for a different result, we need to ask ourselves if there might be a better way of running our ferry services and putting control and accountability in the hands of the communities these lifeline ferries serve.”
It comes as the state-owned ferry operator CalMac is having to handle an ageing ferry fleet with new lifeline vessels MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802 still languishing in the now state-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard, with costs of their construction more than soaring from £97m to nearly £340m and delivery over five years late.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “We share the aims of the committee, and of the wider Mull and Iona communities, for sustainable and effective ferry services and while we do not recognise some of the criticisms made here, we look forward to continuing our constructive engagement with the committee on future services and vessel replacements.
“Scottish Ministers have been clear on multiple occasions, including the Transport Minister’s recent update to parliament on Project Neptune, that we will not consider splitting up the network or privatisation of any of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services routes.”
A spokesperson for CMAL said: “CMAL is committed to delivering a safe and effective ferry service to the communities it serves. Decision making is informed by extensive community engagement, forecasting and future proofing, as well as environmental and funding considerations. We have a professional team of engineers, ship designers and naval architects who have extensive experience of the scope and limitations in delivering complex engineering solutions suitable for the operating conditions in Scotland.”
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