Transport minister Kevin Stewart has come under fire after for what was described as "the understatement of the year" by saying the situation regarding Scotland's ferries was "not brilliant".
Mr Stewart spoke out after being questioned on the continuing issues over resilience of the nation's ageing ferry fleet after a sudden mechanical failure was said to have been likely to have been the cause of a car ferry grounding in Orkney.
The MV Pentalina had 60 people on board when it grounded at St Margaret's Hope on Saturday night.
The Pentalina got a safety certificate after surveys of the vessels on April 18 and came back into service on Wednesday after time in dry dock to allow another ferry, the MV Alfred, to service other routes to islands on the west coast.
READ MORE: ScotGov-owned CalMac get £1.6m crew bill for ferries that never sailed
Ministers sanctioned a £9m charter of Alfred for nine months after a series of disruptions to ferry services because of technical problems with some vessels that were put out of action for months.
Ferguson Marine, which was rescued from administration by the Scottish Government in 2019, has struggled to complete two lifeline ferries, with further delays also announced by the yard in March, pushing the delivery date for the Glen Sannox and Hull 802 to the end of this year and 2024, respectively, five and six years later than originally planned. The costs of delivery which were originally set at £97m are thought to have quadrupled.
Mr Stewart said that the Ferguson situation had "not helped in terms of the situation that we're facing just now".
He said there were six ferries that will be coming online soon.
He added: "And that is required to ensure that our islands are well connected. What we have at the moment is not brilliant for many islanders."
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Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, he was quizzed about his "not brilliant" statement, with presenter Laura Maxwell saying it " might be an understatement in terms of the people listening in our Islands".
He added: "No, no, not good at all. And that's why I've spent all of my time almost since I've taken up this post to make sure that that resilience is there."
Scottish Conservatives shadow transport minister Graham Simpson (above) said: “This claim from the SNP’s new transport minister must rank as understatement of the year.
“Islanders who have been let down at every turn will be astonished by Kevin Stewart saying the service isn’t brilliant. The reality is that the service is absolutely disgraceful.
“Even before this incident in Orkney, successive SNP transport ministers – including Humza Yousaf – have presided over shambles after shambles.
“Kevin Stewart may be new to the job, but he can’t dodge the SNP Government’s responsibility for years of indifference and betrayal of islanders.
“New lifeline ferries are still not in operation six years on from a fake launch. This has led to our island communities being increasingly cut-off from the mainland which has had a devastating impact on their economies.
“Kevin Stewart must quickly up his game and finally get a grip on this ferry fiasco that his party is wholly responsible for.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat Orkney MSP Liam McArthur added: “SNP ministers seem to be the last people in the country recognising how threadbare Scotland’s ferry network actually is.
“As any islander would be able to tell them, the situation isn’t just ‘not brilliant', it’s having a profoundly damaging impact on island communities both in the north and the west
“There are serious questions for the Government here, which is why I have called for the transport minister to come to parliament on Tuesday to answer questions on this matter.
“As well as addressing the loss of freight and passenger capacity on the Pentland Firth, the minister will also need to respond to concerns within the local community that the urgency with which the vessel was required to enter service had a bearing on events at the weekend.”
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