'Enough, sell the ferries' message to SNP after £3.5m wage bill revealed

Scotland has been paying out £3.5m for the past two years on staff that are meant to work on one of the country's unfinished ferries - and Daily Record readers have had enough of the saga in our comments section. 14 staff were hired back in 2022 when the MV Glen Sannox was expected within the year, and have been kept on throughout rounds of delays.

A further 5 officers were taken on for the vessel last year. The ferry, along with its sister ship Glen Rose, were first expected to be delivered in 2018. The price tag has grown from an initial estimate of £97million to over £360million.

Scottish Lib Dem economy spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP said: “I have my head in my hands. Yet more money wasted on these dreaded ferries. Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP said: “CalMac must have crew ready for these vessels. The problem, of course, is that they have taken so long to build. CalMac were doing the right thing but they have been let down, as have our islanders, by this whole fiasco."

Duncan Mackison, interim CEO of CalMac, told the Daily Record that it was normal practice for senior staff to be hired 6 months before delivery, as they "play a critical part in getting vessels ready to enter service and have developed operating procedures, work instructions and vessel familiarisation for MV Glen Sannox."

Commenter Caldeon5757 thinks that hiring the staff at the time was the right call: “Allocating Engineering Staff to a new build well before launch is standard practice in all types of marine industry... Both civil and military.”

User AScot agrees: “Anyone who has ever worked in a shipyard knows the senior crew are on the ship months before its handed over and it looks like the ratings are being used for cover.”

Dissidentfromnorthbritain says they've been kept on too long: “A few months before sure. But many years... Only if you don't care about taxpayer's money.”

On wider delays, Godly12 writes: “How much have these ferries cost against there gross income and service? Enough already, sell the ferries, and use hovercraft.”

Wolf21 says: “Reminds me of the Edinburgh tram fiasco, people paid too much in charge of overseeing the projects, and insufficiently experienced or qualified to do so competently.”

Reader Thomas111 writes: “Nobody in the government is ever held accountable. Listen, just pay the money and build tunnels to the mainland, then there's no need for this shambles and probably cheaper making a Clyde tunnel style, no problems if weather turns bad.”

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Last year, we revealed the Glen Sannox will include a gym and dozens of staff cabins for one-hour crossings to Arran. Angry campaigners said the MV Glen Sannox is not fit for purpose after plans obtained by the Sunday Mail showed workers are assigned more space than onfoot passengers.

The ferry has 38 cabins and suites for a crew of just 26, a gym, recreation room, mess room and changing facilities for those working onboard. Roy Pedersen, a former member of the Scottish Government’s Ferry Industry Advisory Group, called it a “floating luxury hotel” all at public expense.

Should Scotland call time on the ferries? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.