A brand new Australian ferry being mothballed in Edinburgh should be leased for a new international route between Scotland and Europe, according to former Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill.
The Spirit of Tasmania IV arrived in Leith earlier this month and could be docked there for almost three years until port infrastructure in the city of Devonport is upgraded.
The vessel’s owners are understood to be interested in a temporary lease agreement which could help them recoup some of the £25,000 a week berthing fees.
It comes at a time of renewed calls for a ferry service between Scotland and Europe to be reinstated to boost tourism and trade.
Graeme Downie, the Labour MP for Dunfermline, met with Treasury minister Spencer Livermore last week in a bid to secure £3million for the service.
DFDS Ferries are keen to operate a route between Rosyth and Dunkirk from spring next year – but funding is needed to first redevelop the port facilities on the Firth of Forth.
There was previously a direct ferry link between Rosyth and Zeebrugge in Belgium between 2002 and 2018.
But the passenger service was shut down in 2010 and freight services were ended in 2018 by DFDS after a fire on board one of its ships.
Downie has argued that a small investment to bring the ferry link back would bring thousands of visitors to Scotland a year.
And MacAskill – a former SNP minister and now acting leader of the Alba Party – has now suggested the obvious deal is to lease the Australian ferry to operate the route.
He said: “The Scottish Government and the UK Government should be getting together and making this happen immediately, it is obviously in the interests of everyone.
“Its about vision and gumption which both appear to be sadly lacking – Ireland has increased ferry routes to Europe massively post Brexit while Scotland has been stuck in limbo. Tourism and trade is being lost every day.
“DFDS or CalMac could operate a route between Scotland and Europe with the help of a relatively small investment from government and there is no barrier to doing so as EU rules don’t apply post Brexit.
“The Scottish and UK Governments have hinted that they want to bring back European ferry routes but never delivered. Now they have the opportunity to provide this much needed connectivity.”
Former MP Neale Hanvey added: “We have much of the infrastructure in place and the modest investment required to kickstart a service from Rosyth to mainland Europe would be recouped many times over though the Gross value Added (GVA) from tourism and business activity.
“It is imperative the Scottish government grab this opportunity with both hands and deliver economic opportunity to Fife, the Lothians and beyond.”
The 212m-long Spirit of Tasmania IV was built at a yard in Finland, but had to be moved before winter over concerns it could be damaged by pack ice.
A new berth in Devonport to accommodate the ship, and a sister vessel may not be ready until 2027 and the saga has sparked a huge political row on the other side of the world.
The vessel was due to operate in the Bass Strait, between Tasmania and the Australian state of Victoria.
But in a scandal with distinct parallels to Scotland’s CalMac ferry building debacle a series of delays in its construction, skyrocketing costs and problems upgrading current berths led to one Australian politician describing it as “the biggest infrastructure stuff-up” in the state’s history.
The cost of building the two LNG dual-fuel ships has risen by £47.5million from £430million when the contract was signed in 2021.
Meanwhile the cost of upgrading current infrastructure in Devonport has more than quadrupled from an original estimate of £45.5million.
In Scotland two dual-fuel CalMac ferries to operate vital island routes are seven years overdue and £300million over budget.
Revealing his campaign for a ferry linking Scotland and Europe last week Labour’s Graeme Downie said: “A ferry between Rosyth and Dunkirk would bring 51,000 visitors a year to Scotland and remove 8.1m kilometres of freight traffic from British roads.
“There are barriers at Scottish Government that the SNP will need to overcome as well but I hope working with Treasury Ministers we can identify possible routes of funding for the £3m capital investment needed.”
Danish-owned DFDS had wanted to start three return freight and passenger sailings from Rosyth to Dunkirk in May this year.
But the firm put the plan on hold, saying the Scottish and UK Governments hadn’t given it financial backing.
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