Several islanders asked for much more detail. This website/blog is designed to provide as much information as possible.
To find this blog again, just GOOGLE two words: CALMAC ENIGMA.
Arran Ferry Failure Blog
During the full year: 2018, there were…
601
CANCELLED FERRY SAILINGS
TO/FROM THE ISLE OF ARRAN
CalMac ferry breakdowns are now causing real harm to jobs and the lives of people who live and work on Arran.
Precious island jobs are now being lost.
To help find a way to remedy the current Arran ferry problems…
Please Can You Help Repair The Ferry Mess? Come To The Public Meeting.
At least £101,000,000 has been spent on Arran’s lifeline ferry improvements and the service has gotten worse: 601 cancelled sailings in 2018. To address the ferry issues, a PUBLIC MEETING is scheduled at Brodick Hall on Tuesday 9th April 2019 for 7pm to discuss ways to sort out this ferry bad mess. If you care, share this post. If the Arran ferry affects you, please come along to the meeting. Thanks.
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Petition Proposal
If you are an Arran islander, or visitor, even just someone who would like to find a way to improve the lifeline ferry service to Arran, please let me know if you think a petition to the Scottish Parliament might help remedy this ferry nightmare: TEXT: 0757 276 8795.
DRAFT PETITION
Do you think this is worth submitting to the Scottish Parliament?
THE PETITION – UPLOADED WHEN AUTHORISED
PLEASE NOTE - The petition is NOT LIVE yet. We are seeing if there is any support on Arran for this petition. If you think it is a GOOD IDEA please TEXT 0757 276 8795 and we will lodge the petition with the Scottish Parliament. Thanks.
If you believe it is now time to take action: to have Audit Scotland analyse CalMac to see if things should and can be improved, please contact Russ McLean – TEXT: 0757 276 8795.
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Facts & Figures
Some disturbing numbers extracted from the official records via CalMac. Each cancelled sailing affects hundreds of people…
Total of 601 Cancelled Sailings in 2018
Did any of these affect you or your friends or customers?
CalMac Official Route Performance Table (Source: Click Here)
601 ferry sailings to/from Arran were cancelled during 2018…
371 CalMac ferry failures were on the main Ardrossan-Brodick lifeline ferry service and 230 cancelled ferry journeys on the Lochranza-Claonaig route to Arran.
Arran Island Businesses Are Now At Real Risk of Closure.
CalMac Official Route Performance Table (Source: Click Here)
This is NOT a criticism of CalMac crew/staff. They are doing their very best in worsening company conditions.
This IS an alarm at the seeming inability of senior management at CalMac to learn lessons of the past; of wasted resources on leasing overly large ships. An apparent malaise at the state-owned ferry operator’s senior management team. CalMac and the lifeline ferry subsidy is now £209,680,000 each year. At this rate, the 6 year contract period means a staggering…
£1,258,080,000 Ferry Subsidy
That is an eye-watering £1.258 BILLION pounds!
All this taxpayer money is paid for what?
Chronic, endless ferry cancellations.
Yet there are two other ferry companies that may be able to help shine a light on ways that CalMac can repair the current failing ferry service to Arran.
Western Ferries have operated their routes for decades at ZERO cost to the taxpayer and built new ships – at ZERO cost to the taxpayer.
Pentland Ferries operated their routes for decades at ZERO cost to the taxpayer and built new ships – at ZERO cost to the taxpayer.
CalMac Ferries receive a remarkable subsidy of FOUR MILLION POUNDS EACH WEEK (plus fares and other income) to protect a network of LIFELINE ferries.
Year after year, the senior management at CalMac and CMAL are failing.
The pages of the Arran Banner, Herald, Scotsman, Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald newspapers are regularly populated with letters and feature articles about CalMac ferry nightmares. Eg: here, here, here, here and here.
Little wonder many local folk get a bit fractious and grumpy at the chronic failures of CalMac and trouble each has getting to the mainland – and visitors struggling to get to the island.
Worse, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd., (CMAL) is the other half of the government-owned CalMac system and are sitting on a rusting hulk that was supposed to be in service to Arran by now.
Instead, the MV Glen Sannox is on the cusp of a bitter legal dispute….
MV Glen Sannox Now Being Dismantled To Make Repairs
She USED to look nice and new: like this, albeit with temporary wooden windows…
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What Can Be Done To Sort Out This Mess?
Would you support a petition requiring Audit Scotland to investigate the ferry mess?
THE PETITION – UPLOADED WHEN AUTHORISED
PLEASE NOTE - The petition is NOT LIVE yet. We are seeing if there is any support on Arran for this petition. If you think it is a GOOD IDEA please TEXT 0757 276 8795 and we will lodge the petition with the Scottish Parliament. Thanks.
The majority of recent problems, including 601 cancelled ferry sailings to Arran are down to “capacity issues”. An ageing fleet and failure of newbuild along with the wrong type of ferry.
The new CalMac MD nailed this problem when as soon as he was appointed. Robbie focussed right in on the problem: “capacity issues”. Newbuilds ship requirements are at the heart of this matter. Yet the WRONG type ships are being built. Too big. Anything above a light breeze and the wannabe cruise-liners will NOT fit into Ardrossan Harbour. If the massive MV Glen Sannox ever gets finished, that ship is so oversized that Arran will be guaranteed more cancelled ferry sailings.
The huge slab sided sail area means these supersized CalMac/CMAL ferries cannot get into the narrow Ardrossan harbour entrance for fear of being blown off the leading lights and running aground or denting the bow visor. CalMac and CMAL have quietly dumped the “port of refuge” at Gourock. So if Ardrossan is inaccessible, the ferry returns to Brodick with the same cars and passengers who have wasted two hours on a round trip ferry cruise right back to where they started!
All of this will lead to more frustration and now island job losses.
The New CalMac Managing Director Robbie Drummond.
Even Robbie knows the solution…
… there just needs some public support to help secure newbuild ships that are FIT FOR PURPOSE. In other words FOUR medium-sized ferries and NOT a gigantic, pretentious cruise liner.
The current MD at CalMac is Robbie Drummond. He has an excellent CV and looks to be one of the best managing directors at the state-owned ferry company in a generation. For sure, Mr Drummond identified the ageing fleet problem very early on in his tenure at the top job…
Press and Journal: Source: Here – Also BBC Reporting: Here
We are asking the CalMac senior management to STOP building over-sized ships and instead start constructing a new class of medium-sized ferries such as a modern version of the MV Hebridean Isles / MV Isle of Arran – up to a 2019/2020 specification. FOUR of these newbuild medium-sized ferries for Arran would mean:
= A longer ferry day. First sailing 5am. Last sailing 11pm.
= Guaranteed minimum of two ferries on shuttle service to Arran.
= No booking needed. Just turn up and you are guaranteed a space.
= Plug in an extra ferry (numbers 3 & 4) when demand increases*.
= Adequate coverage when an older ferry breaks down.
= Ability to cope with Road Equivalent Tariff increased demands.
= Medium sized ships fit into Ardrossan Harbour on windy days.
I * If Western Ferries can “plug in” extra ferries, then CalMac should be able to manage this.
In order to support senior management at CalMac (and shipowner CMAL), we are recommending Arran islanders and stakeholders…
Please consider signing this petition…
THE PETITION – UPLOADED WHEN AUTHORISED
PLEASE NOTE - The petition is NOT LIVE yet. We are seeing if there is any support on Arran for this petition. If you think it is a GOOD IDEA please TEXT 0757 276 8795 and we will lodge the petition with the Scottish Parliament. Thanks.
Robbie Drummond has kindly offered to come to a public meeting on Arran. Fair play to him. That speaks volumes that the CalMac MD is prepared to listen.
But we also need to have an audit of:-
A] The MV Glen Sannox costs/overuns.
B] The new Brodick Pier costs and value-for-money.
C] How to avoid 601 annual cancelled CalMac ferry sailings destroying Arran jobs.
D] The 4 medium-sized ferry solution for Arran.
E] Crew accommodation cabin weight causing a million pounds excess fuel wastage when shoreside accommodation works better.
F] Whether 72 extra crew jobs with the 4-ferry protoocol can be made cost-neutral by savings from stopping anymore £97,000,000 big ship waste and £40,000,000 capital cost over run.
The starting point is for Audit Scotland to commence a comprehensive Section 22 Report.
Arran islanders and visitors can help by supporting a petition. Please let Russ McLean know if you would support such a petition by TEXTING him on: 0757 276 8795.
THE PETITION – UPLOADED WHEN AUTHORISED
PLEASE NOTE - The petition is NOT LIVE yet. We are seeing if there is any support on Arran for this petition. If you think it is a GOOD IDEA please TEXT 0757 276 8795 and we will lodge the petition with the Scottish Parliament. Thanks.
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Valuable Lessons Learnt Elsewhere?
Other organisations who have a skillset worth sharing for the common good. Pentland Ferries built the MV Pentalina for £7,856,939. Yet CalMac and CMAL spend £47,000,000 on a vessel that should cost no more than £14,000,000 for the Ardrossan-Brodick route.
Orkney Island’s Non-Subsidised MV Pentalina. Cost Andrew Banks £7,856,939.
FOUR new ferries for Arran would be different to the MV Pentland and MV Alfred.
More like a modern versions of MV Isle of Arran or MV Hebridean Isles class of vessel. But NEWBUILD cost is £14,000,000 each.
Why on earth are CalMac and CMAL spending an excessive £48,500,000 of taxpayer money on ONE mega-ferry that is far too big to fit into Ardrossan in many sea conditions when Arran could secure FOUR medium-sized ships for the same price that the eventual MV Glen Sannox will work out at.
Ferguson Shipbuilders are already looking for an additional £40,000,000 to complete that contract. Recent reports in March 2019 adise the cost over-run at £70,000,000 – HERE). Good grief, the £40,000,000 cost over-run could have built at least TWO EXTRA medium-sized ferries. The Clyde and Hebrides lifeline network would have had SIX newbuild ferries for the price of ONE MV Glen Sannox.
Far better to deploy MV Glen Sannox to the Minch where that ship’s huge size would be appreciated and for the Scottish Government to commission FOUR newbuild ferries of MEDIUM SIZE, such as the MV Hebridean Isles for Ardrossan-Brodick…
MV Hebridean Isles. Details: Click Here
507 Passengers; 68 Cars; 24 Crew
MV Hebridean Isles: Length: 85.15m; Speed:15 knots (17 mph). 24 crew. 68 cars.
MV Caledonian Isles: Length: 94 m; Speed: 15 knots. 26 Crew. 110 cars.
MV Glen Sannox: Length: 102.4 m; Speed: 14.5 knots. Crew TBA. 127 cars.
Our suggested FOUR ferry option for Arran would EMPLOY APPROXIMATELY 72 EXTRA SEAFARERS and shoreside staff AND provide a safe, modern and reliable service to islanders and visitors?
Because TWICE as many medium-sized ferries could be built for HALF the cost of the two MV Glen Sannox mega-ships, there would be more than sufficient capital/annuity set aside to ensure ADDITIONAL 72 seafarer jobs in perpetuity.
In the next 12 months, Pentland Ferries will be taking delivery of their newbuild £14,000,000 car ferry…
Orkney Island’s New Ferry: MV Alfred. Cost To The Taxpayer: ZERO Pounds.
Private Funding: £14,000,000.
Photo Courtesy of The Orcadian.
Meanwhile, the new £48,500,000 CalMac/CMAL ferry MV Glen Sannox is moribund and rusting away. That ship is currently looking in a bad condition as it sits idle at the shipbuilders. Launched just over one year ago (21st November 2017) the shipbuilders and owners/charterers and embroiled in an unedifying contractual dispute.
Worryingly, Arran islanders – in fact many islanders with a CalMac ferry – are becoming more anxious by the day at whether their businesses and jobs are safe with 601 cancelled sailings at just one of the many islands CalMac are paid £1,258,080,000 to service.
In addition to the massive operating subsidy that equates to £4,000,000 every week, CalMac effectively gets FREE ships from the government, whereas Pentland Ferries and Western Ferries have to pay for their vessels!
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CalMac Enigma?
We were asked why this new website was called: CalMac Enigma?
The reason is that several of our subscribers grew up on the islands that CalMac serve. Each individual from here had a huge well of goodwill towards CalMac. Especially after we bought the MV Lochmor from the iconic ferry company. 
MV Lochmor. A Class IIa Former CalMac Bought By Our Group.
Renamed “MV Lochawe” as CalMac conditions of sale retained the old name.
Photo Attribution: Argyll Group plc
The MV Lochmor was bought to warm up the Campbeltown-Ballycastle route.
MV Lochmor After The Major Rebuild
Renamed “MV Jurassic Scene”.
This Website’s First Ferry May Be Returning To Scotland.
The MV Lochmor purchase by Argyll Group plc was a stop-gap ferry purchase until CalMac responded to our request to buy the MV Pioneer for the Argyll-Antrim service from our group company.
MV Pioneer. CalMac Failure Led to The Removal of All Ferries & Piers To CMAL
Photo Attribution: Mr Iain Murray
Unfortunately, our offer to buy MV Pioneer for the Campbeltown-Ballycastle route was handled by the former CalMac management in such a questionable manner that the resultant fallout escalated to a major dispute that eventually caused the removal of CalMac’s ships and piers (placed into the ownership of CMAL Ltd). Furthermore, a £15,366,769 cost every 6 to 8 years now accrues for each tender round.
Our affection towards CalMac was turned into despair that such a beloved company could be managed in such a questionable manner. Now, over a decade later, many islanders left stranded away from home or work are having their own good-will towards CalMac severely strained as island jobs are on now the line.
The previous management at CalMac made some serious errors of judgement. We are now literally begging current CalMac MD Robbie Drummond not to repeat those mistakes? Robbie, please get a grip. The Arran lifeline ferry service is genuinely in chaos.
The enigmatic irony is that by refusing/failing to learn from the past – and pick up some helpful pointers from other shipping companies such as Western Ferries and Pentland Ferries – CalMac will be the author of its own extinction.
Recent forecasts are terrible…
CalMac Breakdowns in 2018 Are Proving Disastrous. Source: Here
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Please Consider Signing The Petition
Contrary to popular belief, petitions can actually get things working again. We know as a previous petition we arranged (click here) plus a great deal of help from a LOT of people is why you see the “Campbeltown & Kintyre” ferry sign on your way to Arran’s Ardrossan Ferry Terminal…
A Previous Petition Helped Campbeltown & Kintyre
This Photo Shows The Proof – A Sign You Pass Regularly
That previous aim was to help restore the Campbeltown ferry service. A lot of effort secured a structurally important service to Argyll from Ardrossan which helps the economy on the fragile Kintyre peninsula.
Petitions Actually Work
This Earlier Petition Helped With The Campbeltown Ferry Effort
This new endeavour to help remedy the Arran ferry chaos is likely to gain traction and ensure an independent and professional audit is conducted into the newbuild ferry MV Glen Sannox + Brodick Ferry Terminal value for money + audit of how lifeline ferry services can be made fit-for-purpose.
We believe if a sufficient volume of Arran folk sign this petition, we can start the journey to repairing the current Arran ferry nightmare.
Or are you happy with 601 cancelled ferry sailings each year?
Please consider helping by signing the petition…
THE PETITION – UPLOADED WHEN AUTHORISED
PLEASE NOTE - The petition is NOT LIVE yet. We are seeing if there is any support on Arran for this petition. If you think it is a GOOD IDEA please TEXT 0757 276 8795 and we will lodge the petition with the Scottish Parliament. Thanks.
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McLean Bangs On Too Much About Ferries
Aye right. As a lifelong passenger of CalMac, it pains me to see such a chronic ferry mess. If you take nothing else away from this website, please think on this:-
If Pentland Ferries or Western Ferries ran the Arran ferry service:-
There would be 4 ferries on the route.
These ferries would fit into Ardrossan Harbour properly.
The taxpayer would not have to pay for these vessels.
There would be 72 additional crew jobs.
There would be far fewer ferry cancellations.
The operating subsidy would cost half as much.
I am not proposing privatisation of the Arran ferry route. Just begging CalMac senior management to do their jobs properly and make the service fit for purpose. Please.
And I will bang on about this until the day I die. For my job is to create jobs and CalMac are causing our company, and many other island-based businesses to have jobs put at risk. Robbie, please get a grip.
Regards,
Russ McLean
MD, Scotslion Ltd., Ingledene Office, Sannox Bay Hotel, Sannox, Isle of Arran, KA27 8JD
Main Office: The Old Engine House, Noss Head Lighthouse Station, Wick, Caithness, KW1 4QT
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Further Reading
Source Information & Reference Material
Section 22 Style of Report: Click Here
Cabinet Secretary, 13 Month Late FOI Report: Click Here
Subsidy Background: Click Here
Earlier Audit Scotland Report: Click Here
Petition Proposed By Russ McLean: Click Here
Russ McLean. Pictured In The Middle.
Owner of MV Southsea, MV Lochmor and One of the triumvirate to form the Friends of TS Queen Mary Charity, owner of TS Queen Mary.
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Would You Support A Petition?
To the Scottish Parliament aiming to sort out the ferry mess?
If you are an Arran islander, or visitor, even just someone who would like to find a way to improve the lifeline ferry service to Arran, please text me if you think a petition to the Scottish Parliament might help: TEXT 0757 276 8795.
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Not Anti-CalMac
More like…
Angry With CalMac
Now trying to help get this mess sorted out
