Everything about Caledonian Macbrayne totally explained
Caledonian MacBrayne (usually shortened to
Cal Mac;
Caledonian Mac a' Bhriuthainn in
Scottish Gaelic) is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries between the mainland of
Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland's west coast. It is
publicly owned and controlled by the
Scottish Government.
History
MacBrayne's, initially known as David Hutcheson & Co., began in
1851 as a private steamship operator when
G. and J. Burns, operators of the largest of the Clyde fleets, decided to concentrate on coastal and transatlantic services and handed control of their river and Highland steamers to a new company in which Hutcheson, their manager of these services, became senior partner. Their main route went from
Glasgow down the
Firth of Clyde through the
Crinan Canal to
Oban and
Fort William, and on through the
Caledonian Canal to
Inverness. With the retirement of its founders in the
1870s, their partner (and nephew of Messrs. Burns) David MacBrayne gained full ownership, and changed the company's name accordingly. It remained in the hands of the MacBrayne family until 1928 when, unable to carry on, it was acquired jointly by the LMS Railway and Coast Lines. Its ships featured red funnels with a black top.
The
Caledonian Railway at first used the services of various early private operators of
Clyde steamers, then began operating steamers on its own account on
1 January 1889 to compete better with the
North British Railway and the
Glasgow and South Western Railway. It extended its line to bypass the G & SW
Prince's Pier at
Greenock and continue on to the fishing village of
Gourock, where they'd purchased the harbour. After years of fierce competition between all the fleets, the Caledonian and G & SW were merged in 1923 into the
LMS and their fleets amalgamated into the
Caledonian Steam Packet Co., their funnels being painted yellow with a black top. At the same time the North British Railway fleet became part of the
LNER (which built the
Waverley in 1947). With nationalisation in 1948 the LMS and LNER fleets were amalgamated under
British Railways with the name
Clyde Shipping Services. In 1957 a reorganisation restored the CSP name, and in 1965 a red lion was added to each side of the black-topped yellow funnels. The headquarters remained at Gourock pierhead.
At the end of December 1968 management of the CSP passed to the
Scottish Transport Group, which gained control of MacBrayne's the following June. The MacBrayne service from Gourock to
Ardrishaig ended on
30 September 1969, leaving the Clyde entirely to the CSP.
On
1 January 1973 the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. acquired most of the ships and routes of MacBrayne's and commenced joint Clyde and West Highland operations under the new name of Caledonian MacBrayne, with a combined headquarters at Gourock. Funnels were now painted red with a black top, and a yellow circle at the side of the funnel featuring the red Caledonian lion. In
1990 the ferry business was spun off as a separate company, keeping the Caledonian MacBrayne brand, and shares were issued in the company. All shares were owned by the state, first in the person of the
Secretary of State for Scotland, and (after
devolution) by the Scottish Executive.
A joint venture between Caledonian MacBrayne and the
Royal Bank of Scotland named
Northlink Orkney and Shetland Ferries won the tender for the subsidised
Northern Isles services, previously run by
P&O Scottish Ferries, commencing in 2002. The ambitious programme ran into financial difficulties, and the service was again put out to tender. Caledonian MacBrayne won this tender, and formed a separate company called
NorthLink Ferries Limited which began operating the Northern Isles ferry service on
6 July 2006.
To meet the requirements of
European Union Community guidelines on State aids to maritime transport, the company's routes were put out to open tender. To enable competitive bidding on an equal basis, Caledonian MacBrayne was split into two separate companies on
1 October 2006. Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) retained ownership of CalMac vessels and infrastructure, including harbours, while CalMac Ferries Ltd submitted tenders to be the ferry operator. Their bid for the main bundle,
Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services, succeeded and on
1 October 2007 CalMac Ferries Ltd began operating these services on a six year contract. The
Gourock to
Dunoon service was the subject of a separate tender, but no formal bids were made. In an interim arrangement CalMac Ferries Ltd continues to provide a subsidised service on this route.
Current fleet
Calmac has 29 vessels in current service. There are 8 'major units' - ships of 80 m or more in length. The largest ship is the
MV Isle of Lewis at 101 m in length. The others are
MV Clansman,
MV Hebrides,
MV Caledonian Isles,
MV Isle of Mull,
MV Hebridean Isles,
MV Isle of Arran and
MV Lord of the Isles.
There are 13 'Loch Class' vessels in the company, in different shapes and sizes. These are double-ended ferries with no operational bow or stern (although in official documents the designation of such is given). They are usually symmetrical in shape when viewed from the side.
Calmac's smallest vessels are the 22.5 m 'Island Class' ships. They were built as the predecessors to the 'Loch Class' and are now slowly being taken out of service. Only three of the original 8 remain in the fleet.
The company is adapting to the demands of 21st century. In 2007
MV Bute (built in 2005 in Gdansk, Poland) was joined on the
Wemyss Bay /
Rothesay route by an almost identical sister,
MV Argyle. A new "super loch",
MV Loch Shira was built for the
Largs /
Cumbrae route, entering service in 2007. A new vessel is expected on the Islay service in Spring 2011. This has been ordered from the Remontowa Yard in Gdansk, Poland for £24.5 million. The new vessel will be 89.90m long and capable of 16.5 knots. The vessel is designed to carry 550 passengers, up to 88 cars, as well as coaches, cars and commercial vehicles. The vessel will also be capable of carrying dangerous goods.
Business
The company enjoys a de-facto monopoly on the shipment of freight and vehicles to the islands, and competes for passenger traffic with number of aircraft services of varying quality and reliability. Nonetheless, few if any of the routes currently operated by Cal-Mac are profitable, and the company receives significant government subsidies due to its vital role in supplying the islands - these routes are classified as "lifeline" services. In 1996 Cal-Mac opened its first route outwith Scotland, winning a ten year contract to provide a lifeline service to
Rathlin Island in
Northern Ireland.
Various versions of a local poem refer to MacBrayne's long dominance of Hebridean sailings:
The Earth belongs unto the Lord
And all that it contains
Except the Kyles and the Western Isles
And they're all MacBrayne's
Several groups have proposed privatising the service, and there has been a long commercial and political struggle with a privately owned company,
Western Ferries, who have run a rival, unsubsidised service from
Gourock to Hunters Quay (near
Dunoon) since 1973. In
2005 the Scottish Executive put out to
competitive tender, the collective routes to the Hebrides as a block, with the Dunoon route being a separate tender. Three operators submitted bids for the routes with Cal-Mac bidding to retain all its existing routes. The Executive will decide in
2006 to whom to award the contracts; successful bidders will run the services on a similar "lifeline" basis to Cal-Mac, and would receive subsidies from the Executive.
In September 2006, one of the three interested operators withdrew its interest in the (separate) Gourock to Dunoon route.
V. Ships pulled out, leaving only Cal-Mac and Western Ferries to tender for this busy crossing.
Some island and union groups oppose the tendering process, fearing it would lead to cuts in services and could be a prelude to full privatisation. Whilst other islanders, visitors and actual ferry users fear the lack of competition and an every growing state ferry monopoly dominating all Scottish waters.
During the tendering period, the company of David MacBrayne Ltd., which had been legally dormant for many years, was re-activated on 4th July 2006. David MacBrayne Group Ltd., acquired the full share capital of Northlink Ferries Ltd., and took over operations of the Northlink routes on 6th July 2006. During September 2006, David MacBrayne Group Ltd., acquired the entire share capital of CalMac Ferries Ltd. In August 2006, David MacBrayne Group Ltd., directed two of its subsidiary companies, Cowal Ferries Ltd., and Rathlin Ferries Ltd., to take over operation of the Gourock to Dunoon, and Rathlin to Ballycastle services. Thus, from leaving the hands of David MacBrayne 68 years earlier in 1928, the west coast ferry service returned to the fold in 2006 vastly enlarged.
Routes
- Gourock in Inverclyde (near Greenock) to Dunoon on the Cowal peninsula, crossing the Firth of Clyde (23 minutes).
- Tarbert on the Kintyre peninsula to Portavadie on the Cowal peninsula, crossing Loch Fyne (25 minutes).
- Wemyss Bay in Inverclyde to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, crossing the Firth of Clyde (35 minutes).
- Colintraive on the Cowal peninsula to Rhubodach on the north of the Isle of Bute, across the Kyles of Bute (5 minutes).
- Ardrossan in North Ayrshire to Brodick on the Isle of Arran, across the Firth of Clyde (55 minutes).
- Claonaig on the Kintyre peninsula to Lochranza on the Isle of Arran, across the Sound of Bute (30 minutes).
- Largs in North Ayrshire to Cumbrae slip on Great Cumbrae, crossing the Firth of Clyde (10 minutes).
- Tayinloan on the west coast of the Kintyre peninsula to Ardminish on Gigha (20 minutes).
- Kennacraig on the west coast of the Kintyre peninsula, through West Loch Tarbert, across the Sound of Jura and the Sound of Islay to Port Askaig on the east coast of Islay (2 hours 5 minutes). Some services then connect to Scalasaig on Colonsay (1 hour 10 minutes).
- Kennacraig to Port Ellen on the south coast of Islay (2 hours 20 minutes).
- Craignure on Mull to Oban, across the Firth of Lorne (45 minutes).
- Lochaline on the Ardnamurchan peninsula to Fishnish on Mull, across the Sound of Mull (15 minutes).
- Fionnphort on the Ross of Mull (in southwest Mull) to Iona, across the Sound of Iona (5 minutes).
- Tobermory on Mull to Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, across the Sound of Mull (35 minutes).
- Oban to Achnacroish on the island of Lismore, crossing the Lynn of Lorne (50 minutes).
- Oban to Arinagour on the island of Coll, crossing the Firth of Lorne and the Sound of Mull (2 hours 55 minutes).
- Arinagour on Coll to Scarinish on the island of Tiree (1 hour).
- Sconser on the Isle of Skye to Raasay, crossing the Narrows of Raasay (15 minutes).
- Mallaig on the west coast of the mainland to Armadale on the Isle of Skye, across the Sound of Sleat (25 minutes).
- Mallaig to the Small Isles (Eigg, Muck, Rùm, and Canna).
- Oban to Castlebay on Barra (5 hours) and Oban to Lochboisdale on South Uist (5 hours 20 minutes). Some of the Castlebay services stop additionally at Tiree. Some of the services make a triangular route (Oban -> Lochboisdale -> Castlebay -> Oban), with the journey from Lochboisdale to Castlebay taking 90 minutes.
- Barra to Eriskay, across the Sound of Barra (40 minutes). Eriskay is connected to South Uist by a causeway.
- Uig on the Isle of Skye to Lochmaddy on North Uist (1 hour 45 minutes). Some services run via Tarbert on Harris.
- Leverburgh on Harris to the island of Berneray (1 hour). Berneray is connected to North Uist by a causeway.
- Stornoway on Lewis to Ullapool in Ross (Wester Ross) (2 hours 45 minutes).
- Ballycastle in County Antrim to Rathlin Island (45 minutes). This is the company's first (and only) service in Northern Ireland.
Footnotes
Further Information
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