LABOUR have called for "full transparency" over the deal to lease the first new CalMac ferry to be built and owned by a private sector company.
The Scottish Government announced in 2012 that the £41.8 million vessel ferry for the publicly owned CalMac's busy Ullapool to Stornoway route would be financed by Lloyds Banking Group.
But Lloyds' financial arrangements with the Flensburger Schiffbau Gesellschaft (FSG) shipyard in Germany which built the new Loch Seaforth, remain commercially confidential, the Scottish Government insists, adding that it is legally bound to observe that confidentiality.
The Loch Seaforth has now started on the route, but is being backed up by its predecessor the Isle of Lewis for an initial period. There have been several breakdowns as problems with the new vessel emerge.
Questions have now been raised as to how much and for how long the public purse will be paying for the ferry.
Western Isles Labour candidate, Alasdair Morrison, said the communities served were entitled to know the terms of the deal which involves Lloyds owning the vessel, leasing it to the publicly owned Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) who in turn sub-lease it to CalMac.
Mr Morrison said it appeared from CalMac's accounts that at least £5 million of the subsidy paid to CalMac to operate its network of Clyde and Hebrides routes would be committed for the next 20 years to sub-leasing the Loch Seaforth from CMAL.
"This has to be looked at over the lifespan of the Loch Seaforth," he said. "Who will pay for major repairs if they are required?
"Who will be responsible for replacing her on the Stornoway-Ullapool route in the event of major breakdowns or other unforeseen circumstances, which are not exactly unknown?"
Mr Morrison said it was "insulting" to island communities to claim commercial confidentiality.
"If they are paying £5m or £10m a year to Lloyds, then that is £5m or £10m a year less to subsidise operations over the CalMac network."
But a Scottish Government spokesman denied the claims, saying both Ministers and CMAL have been "open and transparent throughout the procurement of the new Loch Seaforth". He added that details about how the vessel would be financed were published as early as June 2012.
"Due to the severe cuts placed by Westminster on the Scottish Government's budgets, Transport Scotland and CMAL looked at innovative alternative financing for the Loch Seaforth to ensure remote and island communities did not bear the brunt of those cuts," he added.
He said the arrangement was fundamentally the same as the Royal Bank of Scotland financing three ferries for Orkney and Shetland, approved by the then Labour-led Scottish Executive in 2000.
But the preferred method was to fund CalMac's vessels through Scottish Government loans.
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