Latest news with #CaledonianMacBrayne
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CalMac news, interviews and updates about the ferry operator
Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), the Scottish Government-owned ferry operator, plays a crucial role along Scotland's west coast. Serving islands such as Arran, Bute, Mull, Islay, and Skye, it provides vital connections for residents and businesses alike. The service is a key lifeline for the Inner and Outer Hebrides and the Firth of Clyde islands. Read on for all the latest CalMac news, interviews and updates on the ferry operator. As reported by The Herald, here is a selection of the latest CalMac news stories. Ferguson Marine: Swinney urged to act over funding stalls 'Doubt' over CalMac new ferry contract from October Why does CalMac still run Scotland's ferries amidst continuing ire? You can request a refund if you cancel more than 24 hours before departure – but a £10 admin fee applies. If you cancel with less than 24 hours' notice or don't show up, you won't get a refund – though there are some exceptions. Check the full details at: (Image: Newsquest) Cancellations must be made through the Customer Engagement Centre. Customers can also change their bookings online through their account, according to CalMac's website. CalMac is owned by the Scottish Government. Prior to 1990, CalMac was part of the state-owned Scottish Transport Group. CalMac has adjusted services across its network due to delays in the annual overhaul. This includes changes to vessels and schedules. The operator has advised customers to check the service status page for the latest information. CalMac ferry customers can check the timetable and status of their service online or on X, @CalMac_Updates. CalMac has a wide range of tickets and food options. According to the official website, adults aged 16 and over require a ticket, while children aged five to 15 can travel for half the adult fare. Onboard, passengers can enjoy self-service dining at the Mariners cafeterias, with options including homemade soup of the day, freshly made baguettes, fish and chips, Scottish steak pie, and 'CalMac and Cheese.' For children, meals include chicken fillet bites, mac and cheese, and mini fish and chips. CalMac strongly recommends that foot passengers book online or by phone in advance, although tickets may still be available to purchase at the port depending on the route. For details on turn-up-and-go routes and more information, visit: You can bring your pets on board CalMac ferries, but you'll need to book a free pet ticket in advance. Pets are welcome on all outside passenger decks, but for hygiene reasons, they're not permitted in food, drink, or carpeted areas. Assistance dogs are allowed in all public areas of the ferry, except designated children's play areas. For full details, visit the pet travel FAQ: Travelling with pets.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- BBC News
Waverley: 50 years of the paddle steamer bought for £1
Douglas McGowan thought it was a wind-up when he was offered the Waverley paddle steamer for £ was one of a group of young enthusiasts who enjoyed a jaunt out on a paddle steamer in the 70s. But they never thought they would actually own that is exactly what happened back in 1973 and Scotland's beloved Waverley, the world's last seagoing paddle steamer, is still going is marking a special milestone of fifty years since the ship ran its first passenger sailings after being taken over as a heritage steamer was first launched on the Clyde in 1946, intended for cruises up Loch Loch and Loch Goil - and she became a familiar sight for generations going "doon the watter" for their something of a national treasure, Waverley was triumphantly returned to service in 1975 by a very determined group two years after the very cheap purchase. "I thought it was a wind up at first," said Mr McGowan from the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS) on the offer from Caledonian MacBrayne. The company had briefly operated the ship before making the £1 offer to the McGowan had to persuade his committee in London that it was a genuine offer and then, he said, "the fun and games started".They did not have a really clear idea of what to do with the ship as the offer had been totally an inspection of the hull showed that it was in decent condition and a public appeal raised £100,000 - a huge sum for the time. Fifty years on, the Waverley's 2025 sailing season is now underway. This year she will visit 74 ports and piers around the UK."Waverley has witnessed so much change in her lifetime," said Paul Semple, general manager at Waverley Excursions."The river area and the riverside has transformed, yet Waverley has remained".Like many involved with the ship, Mr Semple sailed on her as a child. He started work with her as a student summer job in the mid 90s and has never really said keeping a heritage steam ship running was not over the years there have been challenges like repairs, maintenance, new boilers, incidents where she has gone into a pier and Covid."Money is a challenge," Mr Semple said."But also the people to work the ship to learn the skills of a paddle steamer to ensure that she's here for many years to come". On the first public sailing of the new season, there is a real air of excitement. One young boy is celebrating his birthday, and others have childhood memories."As a kid it was magic," said Alistair Quinlan, who was born and brought up in Helensburgh. He remembers family and Sunday school trips on the Waverley."The fact that the engines are open," he added. "Just the sound of it - it is a living playground for young children". Another passenger, Diane MacKinnon, explains that her husband was born very nearby."He remembers when the river was full of ships like this and everything was really busy on the Clyde," she enthusiasts who took over the Waverley more than 50 years ago said they could never have imagined it would be still going strong today."The nice thing about Waverley is that she's not stuffed or mounted in a museum somewhere," said Douglas McGowan of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society."She's alive and well and in very good condition".
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Daily Mail
JOHN MACLEOD: A mainland excursion by ferry? I'm taking a chance on the antique boat show
I am meant to be in Glasgow next Thursday evening for some glitzy function – all starched shirtfronts and varnished hors d'oeuvres – but between the mainland and I are miles of roiling Hebridean sea. And, as so often these days in the Western Isles, few plans of action survive contact with Caledonian MacBrayne. The lad at their Stornoway booking-office on Monday could not have been nicer. He jabbed at his computer like an industrious woodpecker, pinging back and fore between Tarbert to Uig and Stornoway to Ullapool, as scheduled sailing after scheduled sailing proved to be fully booked. With a pause for some dark murmurs about camper-vans, I was finally squeezed in on the late afternoon crossing to Skye next Wednesday with return, by an early afternoon sailing to Harris, a week later. Neither is ideal. The journey south will probably have to be broken by a night in a hotel – elderly mothers do not care for their firstborn to clatter through the door near midnight – and the journey back by further B&B resort or getting up at oh-gosh o'clock. But you cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good, so I surrendered on these terms and bought my tickets. Then, on Tuesday afternoon, I spotted something on Facebook and collapsed with a hollow groan. The ship in question, the Hebrides – just scant weeks back from her annual overhaul – has a broken bow-visor. For the next few days, she will be loading stern-only and be forced to turn around on arrival at every port. Big lorries, caravans and that will have to reverse aboard and, accordingly, with all the concomitant delays, her timetable has to be recast. And, though the visor might well be fixed within a few days, it cannot be used again till yellow-vested jobsworths have travelled north - very slowly, at some point in June - to sign off on its safety. We were assured the revised programme would be up on the CalMac website within the hour. I checked after tea. It wasn't. I checked again in the late evening. The website was closed, derelict and dumb for 'routine maintenance.' Then, this morning, a text-message pinged on my mobile. 'Due to an issue with MV Hebrides bow-visor… your sailing from Tarbert to Uig n Wed 21 May will now depart at 17.20. Please check in no later than 16.35…' I all but flung the phone across the room. The inability of Caledonian MacBrayne to describe breakdowns, mechanical failure, collisions with the pier or bits of the boat falling off in pure plain English has long been a signal trial. The Cumbrae ferry, a company spokesman once honked, was temporarily out of action after 'contact with the sea bed.' Or, as we used to put it, had run aground. Not a week now passes when we are spared headlines about Caledonian MacBrayne 'issues.' Ships stuck in dry-dock with intractable problems. A Sound of Harris ferry with dodgy propulsion-units. Passengers having to board at Stornoway by the vehicle-deck because the mechanised gangway has been broken since about 2022. The vast Isle of Mull, allowed to carry no more than 44 fare-paying passengers because her escape-chutes don't work. Reduced vehicle capacity on the Hebrides because her aft mezzanine deck has conked out. And meanwhile, and as if to add insult to injury, it was on Tuesday announced that the new vessel Glen Rosa – meant to be sailing in 2018; still, for now, a static Port Glasgow art-installation – will be delayed by another six months. Oh, and £35 million more from the long-suffering taxpayer, please. Does anything more exemplify 'Broken Britain' than the ongoing travails of Caledonian MacBreakdown? The sad thing is that none of this is, fundamentally, the company's fault and anyone who travels regularly by CalMac – 'issues' permitting – can attest to the courtesy and good humour of her shore-staff and crews. The failure is political; the wilful refusal to grasp that ships age and depreciate and must, in a calm and ongoing programme, be regularly replaced. In the eighteen years of averred Scottish woe under the distant regimes of Thatcher and Major, six major new ships were built for CalMac, and ten smaller double-ended ferries. The numbers so far delivered by the Nationalists, after their eighteen years in devolved power, are three and three. When John Whittle transformed the company, in assorted Gourock roles from 1969 to 1988 and with a protracted public-spending crisis, he nevertheless replaced pleasure-steamers and glorified puffers with an efficient car-ferry network and delivered untold islands from the age of the coracle. Whittle accomplished this because CalMac organisation and the chain of command was far simpler and public accountability very clear. The company was one leg of the Scottish Transport Group stool – the others were the Scottish Bus Group, and MacBrayne Haulage – and answerable to the Secretary of State for Scotland. And, every year, he laid a detailed STG report before Parliament. And John Whittle – though he ingeniously updated assorted routes by adapting and rebuilding quite a few ships – was not in the least sentimental about tired old bangers. On his watch, and with but one exception – and she had recently been reengined – ships were sold off around their 20th or 25th birthdays, for new careers elsewhere (usually in the Piraeus) till finally wrecked. Every five years by law, you see, a passenger ship must have a particularly exhaustive and indeed expensive 'quinquennial survey,' and by their third decade few vessels are worth it. We chatted about this in 2022 and Whittle could not hide his incredulity that, under his successors, Caledonian MacBrayne was still operating glorified rust-buckets in their thirties and forties. Patching up this and that with, one supposes, gaffer-tape, or the odd firm thump on the top of the set, and sourcing spare parts from the British Museum. At ongoing and eyewatering expense. Though I have always damned as vile calumny that, early in her career, the Isle of Cumbrae served at the Battle of Lepanto, or that Vasco da Gama was ever captain of her. There is a deeper cultural problem. Whatever you might think of the Thatcher years, the men of standing at the time (and they were mostly men) in Westminster or Whitehall had a far better feel for the Highlands and Islands. Many were war veterans, alongside doughty Hebrideans; many routinely holidayed in the pursuit of stags, salmon and grouse. As my late grandfather always maintained, the foe of the Gael has never been the Englishman: it is the Lowland Scot. And in the comfortable Edinburgh ranks of the devolved nomenklatura – the school-run to Watson's, murmured luncheons at the New Club - most know nothing about ferries, and care less. Which is why any excursion to the mainland, these days, is to take your chances with the antique boat show – and the stuff of Russian roulette.
Sunday Post
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Sunday Post
Ferguson workers 'deserve chance after fiasco not of their making'
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up From Lochinvar and Lord of the Isles to Hebrides, Mull, Lewis and Arran, Alex Logan helped build them all. His shipyard, Ferguson Marine, has launched a third of the 36-strong Caledonian MacBrayne fleet ferrying islanders and visitors around the West Coast today. 'People have short memories,' said Logan, a plater who arrived in the Port Glasgow yard straight from school and remains there 47 years later. 'Before all this, we built ships and we built good ones. Given the chance, we still can.' Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa criticism Despite all the ferries to launch successfully from the last commercial yard on the Lower Clyde, its reputation for excellence has been holed by two more: the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, both hugely delayed and over budget. The slow and troubled progress of the ferries towards the slipway has been the focus of more than a decade of political and media scrutiny. Logan, the GMB Scotland convener at the yard, understands why but cannot hide his frustration at the relentless onslaught of criticism. © Supplied He said: 'I have been at Ferguson's all my working life and it is tough to see it getting battered day after day. You would never guess it from the coverage but the workforce here knows how to make good ships. 'All we read about are 'ferry fiascos' as if we don't know one end of a ship from the other. We've been here for more than a hundred years and, given a chance, could be here for many more. 'Mistakes, serious mistakes, were made with these ferries but they were not made by the workers. They were not made on the shopfloor.' Logan believes the biggest mistake was ever taking on Rosa and Sannox after Ferguson's was pulled out of administration in 2014 following 112 years of building ships on the Lower Clyde. Engineering tycoon Jim McColl took over, with the support of then first minister Alex Salmond and his deputy Nicola Sturgeon, but the workers' relief was short lived when the takeover was followed by a contract for two huge CalMac ferries the following year. Logan said: 'We had a good reputation for building small ferries but these two were far bigger than anything we had done before and the plan was for us to build them side by side? 'I didn't think that was possible and said so. Anybody that knew anything about building ships said so too. Nobody was listening though, nobody in charge anyway.' 'We want to turn the page' More than a decade later, Sannox is finally on the water, seven years late but now sailing to Arran, with good reviews, while Rosa is delayed again and still waiting for a completion date. Logan said: 'Nobody wants to finish this job more than us. We want to turn the page. 'An awful lot of money has been spent on these ships and that needs to be explained but, as a yard, as a place of work, we need to move on.' © PA The future of Ferguson's is still uncertain after it failed to win the contract to build seven new ferries for CalMac as part of the Scottish Government's small vessels replacement programme. Instead, the £175 million contract went to the Remontowa yard in the Polish city of Gdansk. GMB Scotland, with the backing of Inverclyde politicians, campaigned for the direct award of the work to Ferguson's, which has a thriving apprenticeship scheme, and is now calling for the second phase of the small ferries programme to go straight to Port Glasgow. At the STUC Congress, starting in Dundee tomorrow, the union will hail the skills and commitment of the Ferguson workforce and urge delegates to back calls for the yard to become a 'cornerstone of an industrial strategy providing Scotland's publicly owned ferry fleet'. 'Ferries are a lifeline' Logan believes that is possible as part of wide-ranging reform of how Scotland commissions and builds its ferries with Ferguson's, now state owned, playing a central role. He said: 'We were given a contract to build two big ferries that we were not equipped for. That has been a disaster for taxpayers and this yard. 'Then a contract for small ferries, exactly the kind of ships we successfully built for years, goes to Poland? We are told there are rules that mean there can be no direct award but when civil servants say rules, we hear excuses. It makes little sense.' It made even less sense, according to his union, when it emerged that the wider economic and social value of the contract to the communities of Inverclyde was not even considered by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL), the owner of ferries and harbours, before sending the work to Poland. Logan said: 'The ferries serving our islands are not a luxury, something nice but not essential. 'They are lifelines for island communities and should be an absolute priority for Scottish ministers. 'Is it really beyond us to have a single company commissioning and operating ferries, working hand in glove with a nationalised yard capable of delivering a steady stream of new ships to replace those going out of service? It does not seem beyond other countries. 'Ferguson's should be a centre of excellence, a yard building the ferries Scotland needs, a yard to be proud of. It has been before and can be again.' State-owned ferry company would be major opportunity for our islands and industries © Shutterstock / D MacDonald By Brian Wilson, Former Labour trade minister who lives in the Western Isles The workers of Ferguson Marine should have been listened to 10 years ago and they should be listened to now. If ministers and quangos had heeded concerns raised in Port Glasgow over the Glen Rosa and Glen Sannox, the damage inflicted in recent years could have been avoided. Island communities have been badly failed and the reputation of a skilled workforce needlessly damaged. Given all that, the status quo cannot be allowed to continue. A new unified state-owned ferry company working in partnership with Scottish shipbuilders would be a major opportunity for our islands and our maritime industries. Ferguson's had, for decades, built fine vessels for Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) and there is no need to build our ferries in Turkey or Poland when our own workers, properly equipped and supported, are more than capable. The Scottish Government is soon expected to award the west coast contract to CalMac for another 10 years but this must come with fundamental change to the governance of our ferry network. The tripartite arrangement involving the civil servants of Transport Scotland, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) in charge of infrastructure and procurement, and CalMac running operations has been an unmitigated disaster for island communities and taxpayers. It was claimed that procurement and operations had to be separated to meet European Commission competition rules, but there has never been genuine competition as CalMac kept the contract as 'a client' of Transport Scotland and CMAL. A new long-term contract award can finally close the book on that fiction and allow CMAL and CalMac to be unified in a single publicly owned company. With 10 years of stability and an orderly procurement schedule, the opportunity exists to forge a new partnership between our ferry company and our maritime industries. The new CalMac should operate at arm's length from ministers and its board should include statutory representation from island councils and workers making it, above all, accountable to the communities it serves. In 2020 the Scottish Government commissioned consultants, very expensive consultants, to examine a way forward for our ferries. International comparisons are rarely straightforward but in British Columbia, Canada, they found a publicly owned company responsible for both ferry procurement and operations, working with autonomy within parameters set by ministers and striving to be properly accountable to the island communities it serves. It may not be perfect – nothing is – but it seems to work. Is it unreasonable to believe Scotland could have one too?
Daily Record
22-04-2025
- Daily Record
The tiny underrated Scottish island with sandy beaches and 'lovely' seafood restaurant
Scotland is home to countless islands, both big and small. While destinations such as Skye and Mull are popular holiday spots, there are also plenty of hidden gems waiting to be discovered. One of the country's many beautiful lesser-known islands is Gigha. The most southern of the Hebridean Islands, it is located around three miles from the Kintyre peninsula—less than three hours from Glasgow by car. Gigha is seven miles long and a mile and a half wide in size. It is home to a population of around just 160 people, making it an ideal holiday destination if you're looking for peace and quiet above all else. To get to Gigha, you can catch a Caledonian MacBrayne vehicle and passenger ferry all year round. The boat leaves from Tayinloan in Kintyre, and takes around just 20 minutes. Once you are on Gigha, there is a wealth of walking and cycle paths to explore. There are also roads, though visitors are encouraged to leave their cars on the mainland in order to avoid congestion. The Isle of Gigha is unique in that it is community owned. The island was owned by a number of private buyers in the 20th century, though was purchased by the local community in 2002, and has grown in popularity as a tourist destination since then. All over Gigha, there are spectacular sandy beaches dotted around its coastline. The most renowned are the Twin Beaches on the north of the island, consisting of two sandy bays separated by a narrow strip of land. The only village on the island is Ardminish, which is home to a pier, a post office, and a church. There is also a zero-waste micro-bakery named Sunshine Bread that sells a range of loaves and rolls. Ardminish also features The Boathouse restaurant, which has previously been recognised by the Michelin Guide. The family-owned restaurant specialises in seafood, with dishes such as whole lobster, pan fried stonebass, and ginger beer battered haddock available. Visitors can enjoy a table on a heated decking area with panoramic views of the Kintyre Sound. There are also tables inside of the 300-year-old boathouse if the weather turns cold. As well as being award winning, The Boathouse has earned acclaim from visitors. On Tripadvisor, the restaurant has an average rating of 4.6 out of five based on 706 reviews. One customer shared: "Lovely example of a great seafood restaurant on the gorgeous island of Gigha. Easy access from the ferry dock, we sat outside and food was really good and prices were ok." A second posted: "Absolutely amazing! Our second visit to this fabulous island restaurant. "The views from the restaurant are stunning. The service and food is excellent, offering a great range of local produce, and also has good options for veggies. "I would thoroughly recommend the Mussels and the Zarzuela is incredible, if you get the chance to try it." Scotland's 'best wee village' with inn that serves up 'sumptuous' Easter Sunday roast View gallery Elsewhere, another top sight on the Isle of Gigha is Achamore Gardens. Situated around a mile and a half from Ardminish, the 54-acre garden is home to unusual plants and trees from across the globe. Highlights of Achamore Gardens include the Walled Garden and the Garden Viewpoint. The former features a wealth of sub-tropical plants, while the Garden Viewpoint benefits from sweeping views out across to the islands of Islay and Jura. More information about what you can get up to on the Isle of Gigha can be found on the Visit Gigha website.
