Written Question · S6W-19166 · Session 6
What assessment it has made of the potential (a) economic and (b) logistical impact of ferry cancellations during summer 2023 on island com…
The question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential (a) economic and (b) logistical impact of ferry cancellations during summer 2023 on island communities.
The answer
The Scottish Government understands the importance of ferry connections to our island economies, communities.
We work closely with our local authority partners, transport providers and island communities and businesses to understand the impacts of service disruption through a variety of fora such as Ferry Committees, the Islands Strategic Group and Transport Forums.
We also fully understand the importance of ferry services to the transportation of goods and services. Our ferry operators prioritise food supplies and essential services during disruption. They are part of local resilience partnerships, and remain in contact with local communities and hauliers.
Scottish Ministers’ primary focus is to improve resilience in the ferry network to minimise the risk of service disruption. We continue to task CMAL and operators to identify and present suitable second hand tonnage options for charter or purchase to support the existing fleets. This has helped to provide additional resilience and capacity in the short-term through, for example, our purchase and deployment of the MV Loch Frisa, chartering the MV Arrow, and currently chartering the MV Alfred.
We continue to invest in our ferry network, including commissioning the two new vessels for Islay and two more for the Little Minch routes. These four ships are being built now and are currently expected to be in service over the period between early 2025 and 2026. These four new vessels are in addition to the vessels being completed at Ferguson’s.
While we continue to invest in the network to minimise the risk of cancellations, weather conditions will always result in some unavoidable disruption. For example, statistics show that in 2022 of the 171,403 scheduled sailings across the CHFS network 11,301 (6.6%) were cancelled, with only 1,830 (1.1%) of these being cancelled due to technical issues.
We work closely with our local authority partners, transport providers and island communities and businesses to understand the impacts of service disruption through a variety of fora such as Ferry Committees, the Islands Strategic Group and Transport Forums.
We also fully understand the importance of ferry services to the transportation of goods and services. Our ferry operators prioritise food supplies and essential services during disruption. They are part of local resilience partnerships, and remain in contact with local communities and hauliers.
Scottish Ministers’ primary focus is to improve resilience in the ferry network to minimise the risk of service disruption. We continue to task CMAL and operators to identify and present suitable second hand tonnage options for charter or purchase to support the existing fleets. This has helped to provide additional resilience and capacity in the short-term through, for example, our purchase and deployment of the MV Loch Frisa, chartering the MV Arrow, and currently chartering the MV Alfred.
We continue to invest in our ferry network, including commissioning the two new vessels for Islay and two more for the Little Minch routes. These four ships are being built now and are currently expected to be in service over the period between early 2025 and 2026. These four new vessels are in addition to the vessels being completed at Ferguson’s.
While we continue to invest in the network to minimise the risk of cancellations, weather conditions will always result in some unavoidable disruption. For example, statistics show that in 2022 of the 171,403 scheduled sailings across the CHFS network 11,301 (6.6%) were cancelled, with only 1,830 (1.1%) of these being cancelled due to technical issues.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S6W-19166 by reference.