YOUR report on the statement from Calmac Ferries raised some eyebrows in the communities served by Scotland's largest ferry operator ("Ferry firm says worsening weather is hitting services", The Herald, May 18).
There will of course be days when for weather reasons boats cannot sail. Yet while the weather "experts" appear to be at odds about the validity and implications of the reported data there will be little disagreement among those dependent on ferry services throughout the Hebridean and Clyde network that the reduction in service reliability is certainly not entirely weather-related.
For instance the wrong kind of weather was not responsible for the recent dubious procurement process by CMal (Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd) of the £42m MV Loch Seaforth which subsequently required an additional spend of £26m on Ullapool and Stornoway harbours to accommodate the new vessel. Consequently the allegedly unscheduled extended works resulted in delays, inconvenience and a shortage of vessels elsewhere.
Weather has not been responsible for long-term underinvestment resulting in a fleet and ports which are becoming unfit for purpose with no spare vessels to relieve others in the event of increasing sudden breakdowns. Many vessels suffer breakdowns within days of leaving the docks after their annual refit and lack of service for "technical reasons" has never been more prevalent.
Neither is weather responsible for the total lack of political will to resolve the inefficiencies in the privately-owned harbour at Ardrossan resulting in the worst service Arran has ever had with no usable alternative "port of refuge" available on most occasions. It is hard to see how the recorded wave height of almost 47ft off the Western Isles is relevant to a harbour in the comparative shelter of the Clyde Estuary.
One might think that a remedy for inconvenienced communities, residents, businesses and visiting tourists may be found in Holyrood but of course Holyrood is the source of the problem. Transport Scotland, Cmal (the asset owners) and CalMac (the operators) are effectively authorised, funded, and subsidised by Holyrood, which choose to blame Europe for enforcing the current lookalike commercial model. So where can one go to resolve this?
The Isle of Arran is commonly referred to as "Scotland in miniature" and as Holyrood has a sizeable SNP majority, the local authority (North Ayrshire Council) is under SNP control and our resident councillor, MSP and MP all represent the SNP one could be forgiven for wondering that if a powerful SNP administration can't provide the necessary ferry infrastructure and services for Arran - what chance is there for the rest of Scotland?
For the sake of the economy, service reliability and connectivity of the islands referred to, particularly if the much vaunted and heavily subsidised Road Equivalent Tariff system is to prove its worth to the tourist industry as intended, then blaming the weather while ignoring obvious inefficiencies in the present business model with its operational, maintenance and procurement shortcomings will not do.
Neil Arthur,
Broombrae, Kilpatrick, Isle of Arran.
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