CalMac pays out £460,000 to delayed ferry passengers
Lib Dem transport spokesman, Jamie Greene, accused the Scottish government of "letting the ferry network deteriorate".He pointed to reliability issues within the CalMac fleet and delays in new vessels going into service.
The Glen Sannox ferry, built by Port Glasgow shipyard Ferguson Marine, was delivered years late and over budget.Its sister ship, the Glen Rosa, will now not be delivered until early next year due to a series of delays.Meanwhile, the MV Caledonian Isles, which has not sailed since January last year, could be out of action for a further four months in order to undergo further repairs.The Lib Dems have launched a consultation on the future of the country's ferry services.Greene, who represents the West Scotland region, said staff and passengers had been "let down" by the SNP's management of the networkHe added: "The SNP government took control of the company and broke their promise to deliver new ferries on time and on budget, which would have reduced the massive bills we are now seeing for compensation and repairs."All of this has created a grim new norm for my constituents along the west coast, from losing business to missing hospital appointments."
Data obtained by the Lib Dems via freedom of information request showed more than 7,000 compensation claims had been lodged by passengers over a two-year period between April 2023 and April 2025.The operator has paid out a total of £1.9m in compensation since the 2017-18 financial year.CalMac said it expected to welcome an additional 13 vessels to its fleet by 2029.It said, when delays and cancellations did occur, staff worked to find alternative routes or sailings for passengers.A spokesperson added: "We're operating more sailings than ever before, with many of our vessels stretched to their limits."It is no secret that our fleet is ageing and that this can lead to higher levels of technical problems."This is why we are looking forward to welcoming 13 new vessels to the CalMac fleet by 2029, which will lead to less technical problems and cancellations, giving passengers a more reliable service."
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said those new vessels would be able to "operate in more challenging sea and weather conditions".They added: "Between January 2015 and June 2025 CalMac have operated over 1.6 million sailings, with just 5.5% of scheduled sailings cancelled. Of those cancelled sailings, 25% were for technical reasons whilst more than double was due to the weather at 60%."In the coming year, the Scottish government intend to invest over £530m maintaining and enhancing our networks and strengthening resilience of services on the west coast and northern isles."This represents a near 23% increase on 24-25 funding levels."
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