CalMac ferry sailings only ran fully to schedule on seven days in 15 months, according to a freedom of information request by the Scottish Lib Dems. Between January 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024 there were just seven days when all timetabled CalMac sailings “performed to schedule”.
Ferries were cancelled on 285 days out of 456. This was a 24 per cent rise on the period from January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023 Technical reasons caused the cancellation of 5,251 sailings across the 15-month period. This was up 57 per cent compared to last year.
CalMac said that only 7.4 per cent of sailings in the period did not go ahead as planned.
Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Willie Rennie said: “The SNP have let down islanders for too long. Despite the maintenance bill for ferries spiralling, there is almost nothing to show for it. More than 5,000 ferries were cancelled for technical reasons in the last year.
“Islanders are losing business, missing events and hospital appointments. The SNP have had 17 years to sort this out; they have no one else to blame but themselves.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats would get the basics right and stand up for island communities. That starts by making sure islanders have access to the ferries they need and rebuilding our country’s economic reputation, which has been sorely undermined by the SNP.”
CalMac’s interim CEO Duncan Mackison said: “Between 1 January 2023 and 31 March 2024, our reliability rate was 92.6%, meaning more than nine in every ten sailings operated as planned. In that timeframe, we successfully ran 198,952 sailings out of 207,495 scheduled, with 7,319 of these cancelled due to weather and tidal conditions which are out with our control.
“On 174 days of the days in question we operated additional sailings, underlining our commitment to try and maintain and deliver a service in the face of disruption. This can mean sailings operate earlier or later than timetabled to ensure people and lifeline supplies can still travel. This is common on routes where, due to distance, there is only one return sailing per day.
“The arrival of six major new vessels by 2026, the first of which is due to be handed over imminently, will improve reliability and resilience in services across the west coast.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “As the information provided by CalMac made clear, between 1 January 2023 and 31 March 2024, 198,952 sailings operated successfully out of 207,495 scheduled. 7319 of these sailings were cancelled due to weather and tidal conditions which are outwith the control of the operator.
“Delivering six new major vessels to serve Scotland’s ferry network by 2026 is a priority for this government. We have also started the procurement process for seven new smaller vessels as part of phase one of the Small Vessel Replacement Plan.
“We have invested more than £2 billion in our ferry services since 2007 and we have outlined plans to invest around £700 million in a five year plan to improve ferry infrastructure. To improve resilience in the short term, we have purchased the MV Loch Frisa and chartered the MV Alfred and will continue to work closely with operators and CMAL.”
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