Islanders have registered their fury after CalMac said they have not changed their thinking over cuts to services in the Outer Hebrides which they say cost communities over £10m last year.
The Scottish Government-controlled ferry operator had initially been praised for what was felt was a u-turn on a "disastrous" decision to slash the capacity of MV Hebrides, the 23-year-old ferry that serves on two routes across the Little Minch to Harris and Uist.
Concerns surfaced as CalMac cut the capacity of MV Hebrides, which normally carries 612 passengers and 90 cars, by 20% by not using its mezzanine deck last summer.
But islanders had said that the deck was back in use this summer and congratulated CalMac chief executive Robbie Drummond on the apparent unheralded change of heart.
But CalMac has now indicated that the cuts change may be shortlived indicating the move was only temporary to provide extra space for passengers due to recent issues with breakdowns and delayed annual maintenance checks which saw South Uist lose its ferry service for most of June.
READ MORE: CalMac chief rejects change in wake of protests over island ferry cuts
Harris Development Ltd, which brings together a range of community bodies, has warned ministers that if replacement ferries were not available till 2026, it could cost communities around £33m in total.
HDL chairman Kenny MacLeod, who said that CalMac data shows that there were 10,000 fewer vehicles able to travel last summer than in 2019 because of the cuts, said: "The statement from CalMac clearly shows that they are not interested in doing anything to help the people of the islands – they are only doing this to get themselves out of the bother that the choices they made have caused them problems.
"Their assertion that they will return to their previous, money saving, option says loudly and clearly that they do not care about the people or the economy of the people of Harris and Uist. They have options and choices that they can make... but they are putting their own profits ahead of making the maximum use of a publicly funded asset. They are behaving no differently to a private operator."
He said that elected representatives would be asked to apply more pressure on CalMac to ensure the mezzanine deck remains to be available on all sailings for the remainder of the summer season – and also that they do not "artificially limit the capacity of the vessel by showing her to be full when in fact there are plenty spaces on board".
He added: "This is another problem with the new system and is preventing people from travelling."
The row emerged in 2001 when CalMac came under fire for resisting reinstating full lifeline ferry services to timetable on the Western Isles in the summer at a cost of £816,000 through removing the use of MV Hebrides' mechanical mezzanine deck.
MV Hebrides was due to be replaced by one of two long delayed ferries still being completed at the nationalised Ferguson Marine shipyard in Inverclyde.
Due to Covid concerns CalMac first removed the mezzanine deck earlier in 2021 which councillors complained caused "major capacity constraints" on the routes across the Little Minch even in times when travel demand was suppressed by lockdown restrictions.
But CalMac said that deploying the mezzanine decks on all sailings during the summer timetable while maintaining the current service frequency would come at the "significant additional cost", identifying a need for additional crew.
A consultation document from CalMac explained that the routes from Uig on the Isle of Skye to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris and Uig to Lochmaddy on North Uist Uhad seen significant growth in traffic demands in recent years but that has resulted in recurrent delays to timetable, "seriously impacting crew hours of rest" and led to cancellations to services to ensure staff are provided "compensatory rest".
The ferry operator said it reviewed previous mezzanine deck usage and found that in 2019, during the peak summer months, they were deployed on 55% of sailings.
CalMac said that during this time, the service was less reliable caused by increased delays and cancellations resulting in "significant impacts to the community".
On that basis, the original 2019 timetable was "no longer sustainable, and a change is needed to ensure a quality, reliable service is provided".
The Western Isles council Comhairle nan Eilean Siar called on ministers to step in to ensure the lifeline ferry services to North Uist and Harris are maintained at the level described in the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract which ministers awarded to CalMac.
The row comes as islanders have complained about glitches to its new £18m ticket system set up to make travel simpler. CalMac apologised for issues over the launch of its long-delayed booking and ticketing platform on May 17, and issued reassurances these would be resolved.
More than 30 bugs and problems were raised with the ferry operator over the new electronic ticketing system which left some vessels unable to sell tickets because their internet connection was inadequate.
At the start of June, ab estimated 500 residents, 200 cars, 40 vans and 20 lorries converged on Lochboisdale - the port which links South Uist to the mainland - to protest about their lifeline services being cancelled for most of June caused by breakdowns to CalMac's ageing fleet. The island vessel, MV Lord of the Isles was seconded to serve the island of Islay.
Mr MacLeod said that CalMac were unable to defend its position and said they "keep coming out with baseless assertions that they hope people will accept"
He added: "Both the booking system debacle and the removal of the MV Lord of the Isles from service were choices that CalMac made, despite other ones that were more favoured to islanders were being available.
READ MORE: Ferguson Marine: ScotGov won't pull plug on ferries despite new farce
"Port staff throughout the network are struggling with the new system and the lack of local options to be able to manage demand in their own areas. It is not designed to assist the ongoing issue of islanders struggling to get bookings at short notice.
"We have lots of sympathy for CalMac as much of what is happening is out-with their control but when they score own-goals like this we cannot defend them. They are choosing to inflict damage on our economy to protect their profitability."
A CalMac spokesman said: “Our position on the use of mezzanine decks on MV Hebrides hasn’t changed. Last year, we agreed to deploy the mezzanine decks on MV Hebrides’ last sailings of the day from Monday – Friday and Sunday, and on all Saturday sailings. We have had cause to deploy the mezzanine decks on MV Hebrides over and above this agreed position recently due to some services being overbooked and to provide additional capacity during recent disruption on the Lochboisdale service.
“CalMac is committed to working with local communities to listen and understand their concerns and we remain open to ideas of potential solutions to ensure capacity is available. We are looking forward to welcoming six major and 10 small vessels into the fleet in the near future, which will build capacity and resilience across our network. We welcome ongoing feedback from Harris Development Ltd and other community groups across the 25 ferry communities we serve.”
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