The number of CalMac ferry cancellations caused by technical problems has “skyrocketed” by almost 2,000% under the SNP, according to new figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives.
Only 217 ferries were cancelled by the SNP-owned ferry operator in 2010 due to faults. But in the first nine months of 2023 alone, there were 3,215.
This would equate, pro rata, to 4,286 for the whole of 2023 – an increase of 1,875% since 2010.
The tally of 3,215 means that the first nine months of 2023 saw more cancellations due to technical faults than every full calendar year since 2010.
Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson said that this increase was a “mind-blowing illustration” of SNP failings, which voters will have their say on come Thursday.
He described the figures as a “shocking betrayal” of Scotland’s island communities, who are still waiting for Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa to enter service, six years late and hundreds of millions of pounds over budget, while the SNP obsess over independence rather than the public’s priorities.
Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson: “These appalling figures are a mind-blowing illustration of the SNP’s mismanagement of Scotland’s ferry fleet.
“An increase in cancellations of almost 2,000% is hard to get your head around but it highlights the Nationalists’ shocking betrayal of Scotland’s island communities.
“SNP incompetence has saddled CalMac with an ageing, unreliable fleet, depriving our islands of lifeline services on an increasingly regular basis.
“John Swinney’s fingerprints are all over this appalling scandal. The SNP Government he was a senior member of, and now leads, have been preoccupied with their independence obsession, allowing this crisis to worsen year upon year.
“On July 4, voters can make the SNP pay for ignoring the country’s real priorities – including lifeline transport links to rural and island Scotland.
“If voters unite behind the Scottish Conservatives in key seats where it’s a straight fight between my party and the Nationalists, together we can defeat the SNP. But a vote for any other party – including Reform – just increases the chances of the SNP winning.”
Notes to editors:
CalMac cancellations due to technical faults increased by almost 2,000% between 2010 and 2023. In 2010 there were only 217 cancellations due to technical faults. This compares to 3,215 cancellations due to technical faults between January and September 2023. If cancellations due to technical faults were to continue at the same rate as the first 9 months of 2023 there would be 4,286 cancellations due to technical faults, which is an increase of 1,875% since 2010 (FOI attached).
CalMac cancelled a record 3,215 sailings due to technical faults in only the first nine months of 2023. Between January and September 2023, CalMac cancelled a record 3,215 sailing due to technical faults. This is more than every calendar year since 2010. This is an increase of 75% on 2022, when there were 1,830 cancellations due to technical faults, and more than double the number of technical faults in 2021 – 1,563 (FOI attached).