THE Scottish Tories have suggested using more privatisation to improve the country’s ferry services.

The party said it wanted to scrap the state-owned firm which owns the ferries, ports, harbours and associated infrastructure, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL). 

It said long-term contracts should be agreed with individual ferry companies instead.

Tory leader Douglas Ross, who is standing for Holyrood in the Highlands & Islands, where most of the ferries sail, agreed that could mean more "privatisation".

He said: “There are already private operators within the ferry industry in Scotland. We would look to get the best deal for people who rely on these as a lifeline service.” 

CMAL owns 36 ferries used around the west coast and northern isles, leasing 31 to state-owned operator CalMac for its Hebridean and Clyde routes and five to privately owned Serco Northlink on the Orkney and Shetland routes.

More importantly for the long-term, CMAL is also in charge of commissioning a new generation of boats to replace the current ageing fleet.

However its record on procurement has come under severe criticism in light of the Scottish Government’s £250m ferry fiasco, when two ships CMAL commissioned from the Ferguson Marine yard at Port Glasgow went £100m over budget and are now four years late.

The contract was bedevilled by disputes between the yard and CMAL over design and money issues, and Ferguson Marine was nationalised after going broke.

A Holyrood inquiry said there was blame on all sides, including in the Government.

READ MORE: Breakdowns of CalMac ferries up by a third last year

The Scottish Tories today launched their “Uniting Scotland” plan to rebuild Scotland’s roads, railway, and port infrastructure.

It included poposals for a Scottish Smart Travel Card, the reversal of some of the Beeching railway cuts of the 1960s, and the roll out full fibre broadband by 2027.

The party said would also develop a new action plan to meet Scotland’s electric vehicle target, including a complete national charging system by 2025.

Despite the surge in home working during the pandemic, it also proposed upgrading the A77, A75, A82, A90, A96, and A1, widening the M8 to three lanes, and a new bypass for the landslip-prone A83 Rest and Be Thankful. 

The section on ports and ferries said: “We would scrap Caledonian Maritime Assets and introduce long-term contracts for ferry operations.

“The SNP have repeatedly failed our island communities who rely on ferries every day. 

“We would review island connectivity and work directly with ferry companies to agree long-term contracts which allow them to invest in their fleet.”

Explaining the proposal, Mr Ross said: “It’s to get away from this scenario where we have island communities at the moment that are worried about people being able to go to and from there because the Scottish Government have completely failed in ferry contracts, in terms of building ferries that haven’t yet touched the water, in terms of not looking to the long-term.

“This is where the policy reallly comes from. It’s a long-term look at things

“Because we’re at the stage now where ferries in many parts of the country are old, are constantly breaking down, are unreliable, and that is therefore having the knock-on detrimental effect in the island communtiies that need them.

READ MORE: Sturgeon admits SNP's economic plan for independence now 'completely out of date'

“It’s to bring in a more long-term, strategic look at how we deal with ferries, we operate ferries, so we don’t end up in the same situation as we are now, after a decade and a half of the SNP being in power, where these ferries are constantly breaking down and letting down the communities who rely on them.”

Asked if the plan would mean greater privatisation, Mr Ross said: “There are already private operators within the ferry industry in Scotland. We would look to get the best deal for people who rely on these as a lifeline service. 

“It’s quite clear, after 14 years of failure from the SNP, people in island communities are not getting the best deal. We believe a more long-term approach is the way to deliver for these communities.”

Pressed on whether there could me more privatisation, Mr Ross, who is standing on the Highlands & Islands list for Holyrood, said: “There could be or there might not be.” 

Speaking about the rest of the  infrastructure plan, he said it would create “tens of thousands of new jobs”, but was unable to be more specific.

READ MORE: Voters are being repelled by 'darker edge' to the Scottish Tories, says Rennie

He said: “Our ambitious plans to rebuild Scotland would create tens of thousands of new jobs and generate long-term economic growth.

"We would unite Scotland with closer transport links and improved local services in every part of the country.

“The SNP’s infrastructure incompetence can be seen all over the country, from the ferries fiasco on the Clyde to the delayed Sick Kids hospital in Edinburgh to the roads in the North East they’ve been far too slow to fix.

“Any project by the SNP is inevitably delayed and the costs often spiral out of control.

“By stopping an SNP majority and their push for another referendum, the Scottish Conservatives would get all of the focus back onto rebuilding Scotland.”

Northern Isles Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael said: “Much like how a full moon comes every month, we can always count on the Tories to announce that the solution to our transport needs is to privatise.

"It didn’t work before, it won’t work now."