The annual price of repairing CalMac 's fleet of ferries has tripled in 10 years - reaching greater than £28million final 12 months. In 2011, restore prices stood at £9.5million however rose to £28.6million in 2021 with complete spending going past £200million since 2007.
The ferry community has been stretched because the getting older fleet of vessels is withdrawn for repairs, with island communities warning MSPs final month that the service was in an "all-time vital state of affairs". CalMac's oldest massive ferry, MV Isle of Arran, is 39 years previous.
Greater than a 3rd of the fleet have exceeded their 30-year design life. The 2 new vessels being constructed at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow are a number of years late and greater than double their authentic finances.
The figures have been launched by the Scottish Authorities by way of a Freedom of Info request made by the Scottish Tories.
Conservative MSP Graham Simpson mentioned: "The age and decline of Scotland's ferry fleet is taking an ever heavier toll on island communities and the general public purse. Greater than a 3rd of CalMac's ships are working past their design life, and the operator's head engineer has admitted that breakdowns will turn into extra frequent as time goes on. It's no marvel that the price of repairs has soared.
"The SNP have totally did not ship their promised ferry substitute programme, which has compelled them to fork out a fortune of public cash on ships which ought to rightly have been retired years in the past."
He continued: "In the meantime, two unfinished vessels in (the) nationalised Ferguson shipyard are a number of years late and nonetheless months away from completion, having racked up prices of greater than £250million to date. The SNP is letting down Scottish taxpayers and abandoning island residents who depend on these lifeline routes. They need to urgently ship the brand new ferries we desperately want or the breakdowns and delays will solely worsen."
A Transport Scotland spokesperson mentioned: "The Scottish Authorities has invested round £2billion in our ferry companies since 2007. It has additionally established a Resilience Fund to make sure future reliability and availability of vessels, which is over and above the annual expenditure for upkeep and repairs.
"The allocation for 2021-2022 is £4million for every of the lifeline fleets. Caledonian Maritime Belongings Ltd (Cmal) are answerable for governance of this funding with CalMac Ferries Ltd main on implementation. Since 2007, we have now additionally elevated frequency considerably on numerous companies in addition to bringing in new routes."
The spokesperson continued: "Now we have lengthy acknowledged the necessity to deal with delays in ferry infrastructure, which is why we have now dedicated to investing an extra £580million within the Infrastructure Funding Plan. Now we have just lately issued the contract to construct two new ferries for the Islay routes and we sit up for the just lately acquired MV Loch Frisa getting into service.
"We proceed to cost CalMac and Cmal with searching for potential second-hand tonnage to enhance operational resilience on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry routes. The earlier charters of MV Arrow are additional proof of this ongoing dedication to enhance and assist the present fleet on this manner."
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