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CalMac spend £4m in just eight months on unplanned ferry maintenance

CalMac spent almost £4million on unplanned ferry maintenance between April and November 2023 – topping the highest annual figure on record, with a third of the financial year still remaining.

Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, via a Freedom of Information request, show that CalMac spent £3.85m on unscheduled work on its fleet during the eight-month window.

This represents an increase of almost £800,000 on the bill for the whole of 2022-23, a rise of more than £550,000 on the previous record high (2021-22) and a doubling of the 2020-21 total.

These figures are in addition to the much higher annual cost of planned maintenance.

The SNP Government’s “rampant neglect” of Scotland’s ferry fleet is a “colossal scandal” according to shadow transport spokesman Graham Simpson.

As cancellations and costs have spiralled, he points out that islanders face “needless misery” from “unreliable and frequently disrupted services”, while mismanagement of ferries has cost the Scottish taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds.

Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP said: “This huge increase in unplanned maintenance costs is the inevitable consequence of the SNP government’s rampant neglect of islanders, and the lifeline ferries on which they rely.

“Much of CalMac’s fleet is at or beyond the end of its natural life, and is therefore prone to break down.

“This unplanned maintenance is not only taking money away from CalMac’s other priorities and imposing costs on the Scottish taxpayer – it means that islanders have to suffer unreliable and frequently disrupted services.

“The SNP-Green government’s mismanagement of ferries – in procurement, replacement, funding and maintenance – is a colossal scandal.

“It has cost hundreds of millions of pounds, inflicted huge damage on island economies, crippled tourism, and caused needless misery for some of our most vulnerable and neglected communities.”

Notes

CalMac incurred a cost of £3,850,483 due to unplanned maintenance of its ferry fleet between 1 April and 1 December. This is nearly an £800,000 increase on the 2022-23 financial year, when £3,055,885 was spent on unplanned maintenance. £3,300,964 was spent in 2021-22, £1,589,633 in 2020-21, £2,361,234 in 2019-20, and £1,768,532 in 2018-19. (CalMac FOI response, 21 December 2023, available on request).