Scottish Labour has pledged to overhaul the 'broken' ferry system serving island communities by merging two key bodies to cut bureaucracy. Party leader Anas Sarwar will visit Stornoway ferry terminal on the Isle of Lewis on Monday to highlight the plans ahead of May's election.
A Labour government at Holyrood would combine ferry operator CalMac and procurement body Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL). CMAL has faced criticism over the delayed and over-budget construction of vessels Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow, with one still not in service.
The proposed merged agency would include local board representation and introduce a new procurement process alongside a rolling replacement programme to modernise the ageing fleet. The announcement follows a week CalMac described as 'unprecedented' upheaval, with eight major vessels taken out of service due to weather and technical issues.
Freedom of information figures released to Labour show CalMac cancellations more than doubled between 2015 and 2025, from 6,822 to 13,647 annually. Technical cancellations increased over nine-fold, from 709 to 7,371. Sarwar said: 'Cancellations have sky-rocketed because of the SNP’s failure to upgrade Scotland’s lifeline ferry fleet.'
An SNP spokesman acknowledged 'challenges' but said Labour's pledges do 'nothing' to build more ferries, noting over £2 billion invested in ferry services under the SNP. CalMac stated technical outages are a significant risk with an ageing fleet and that six major and seven small vessels will join the fleet between 2025 and 2029 to improve reliability.
