Brexit: Expert hits out at 'lazy' supply chain criticism

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Although this week saw west coast services disrupted by gale-force winds, Western Isles council leaders have stated that even when the weather isn’t bad, ferry breakdowns and delays to new ones have left island communities vulnerable. The Scottish government have received continued criticism over the failure to improve the ferry service, including recently being told of delays to two new CalMac ferries being built at the nationalised Ferguson shipyard due to hundreds of electrical cables being wrongly installed.

These two ferries were already four years late and will cost more than double the £97m contract price agreed with the yard in Port Glasgow.

One Twitter user made sure the criticism for the supply shortage was directed in the right place and was not, as some might claim, a result of Brexit.

@VeryWildBilly said: “‘Shops running short on bread and milk, the essentials. We are just going from day to day at the moment’.

“Brexit? No. SNP Ferries fiasco…Yes.”

Transport Scotland said it was committed to lifeline services.

It said Scottish ministers “fully recognised” the need to tackle delays in investment in ferry infrastructure, and had committed to a £580m plan.

The Daily Record reported that Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said delays in bringing new ferries into service was causing maintenance bills for existing boats to skyrocket.

Repair costs hit £14million in the first year of the contract, which dates back to 2016, to almost £18.4million in the fourth, before falling to just £17.3million the following year.

Ms Grant said: “Years of neglect have left Scotland’s ferry fleet in a pitiful state, and their catastrophic mismanagement of the Ferguson’s Marine contracts made a bad situation worse.
She added it was “little wonder costs are soaring when we are relying on vessels a decade past their lifespan.

“The SNP’s shambolic approach to shipbuilding has failed islanders, workers and taxpayers alike. We desperately need some strategic thinking in the new ferry plan – something that has been sorely lacking so far.”

Western Isles Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, has demanded that the islands be represented on the board of David MacBrayne Limited, which manages CalMac, in order to ensure “local expertise in decision-making”.

The council’s transport committee chairman, Uisdean Robertson, said: “We have been warning for some time that we should expect problems.

He added: “It has come to a head this week, particularly in Uist, when the Hebrides broke down and is currently being worked on in Lochmaddy.

“That has left shops running short on bread and milk, the essentials. We are just going from day to day at the moment in terms of how long it will take to repair the Hebrides.”

Public body Transport Scotland said Scottish ministers, and the board of David MacBrayne Limited, were listening to islanders.

A spokesman said: “Ministers recognise that a lack of confidence in ferry services can impact upon people’s decision on whether to live and work on the islands, and impacts upon the sustainability of the island communities themselves.

“These human impacts are at the heart of Scottish ministers’ commitment to supporting lifeline services through continued investment in ferry services across Scotland.”

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CalMac managing director Robbie Drummond also commented on the state of the ferries, telling the BBC that some ferries were not in service because they needed urgent repairs, while annual maintenance overhauls had further delayed the return of other boats.

He added: “Our masters are experienced in assessing weather conditions, and in some cases, they have reported conditions the likes of which we have not experienced for many years.

“At times, this has made sailings impossible – the safety of our customers and our seafaring crew must come first.

“We understand how much our customers and the communities we serve rely on these lifeline services and our utmost priority is getting ferries working as they should be at what is a really difficult time for our communities.”

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