Mull may be a bit of a dark horse and perhaps overlooked. A lot of interest has been expressed on Arran, Islay and Orkney about private ferry operators. I think it might be worth a side bet that Mull may take the lead.

Why?

Well for one it DOESN’T currently make a profit as was earlier posted on this thread. The last route-by-route figures CalMac published showed Oban-Craignure made a big loss and required a £929,000 annual subsidy.

If Mull went the way of Orkney and had an islander start a ferry service (Andrew Banks at Pentland Ferries is born and bred as an Orcadian), Mull may very well enjoy what happened when Western Ferries started up on Islay in the 1970′s.

Competition meant ferry fares halved. Two operators gave twice the frequency of sailing. The economy of Islay boomed.

The ancillary modern day benefit is if Mull went with an island based operator, it could save CalMac almost £1,000,000 a year in operating subsidy and £1,000,000 in ship depreciation costs which may mean less cuts when John Swinney starts the painful process later this year.

As for the comment about Pentland Ferries not being able to service Orkney in full. Well that is simply wrong. If Pentland Ferries were given the Northlink subsidy, they could service Orkney completely, and halve the fares.

The earlier posters have very legitimate concerns about safeguarding lifeline ferry routes. But it isn’t all Reverend I.M. Jolly doom and gloom. Often ferry competition brings about big improvements.

Just look at Arran. The mere thought of ferry competition and we had good old CalMac put a second ship service on in the summer.

Best regards,

Russ McLean.

Appreciate the explanation. Don’t know a great deal about how the ferry services operate for Orkney. Now, a teensy bit less ignorant.

Cheers

Ralph

I think you’ve hit the same concern I have. This route is a vital lifeline to Mull, bringing holiday parties, families, cyclists, eagle watchers, people on pilgrimage to Iona and, of course, local islanders and supplies.

It’s a critical trade route for island life and, should prices rise or service levels drop on the Oban to Craignure run, it’s basically bad news for the island.

Fortunately there are two other routes on to Mull, via Lochaline to Fishnish across the Sound of Mull and from Kilchoan to Tobermory from the Ardnamurchan peninsula. But, as ever, these routes are more circuitous and add to the travel time. There’s much to be said for them as they do allow you to enjoy a trip through Glen Coe, but if you don’t have the time to spare it’s not muich help.

As I’ve said earlier, I’m not idealogically opposed to change… but on what terms? If we can protect what we have and actually improve upon the service as it is today, I’d be the last to object. It’s just that I have severe doubts that this will be an achievable outcome.

I also have the nagging suspicion that it could simply be the Scottish government seeking ways of absolving itself of the responsibilty to protect these vital routes by being able to blame any drop in service or increase in costs to travellers on market forces. By then the damage will have most certainly been done.

So, let’s explore the options but let’s also hope that all the people affected by any changes to who runs the Oban to Mull ferry service get a say in exactly what form any tendering of this route takes.

Cheers

Ralph
Twitter: mullescape

I’m just curious, but how would you say the situation for Mull is different? Can you expand?

Cheers

Ralph
Twitter: mullescape

Matthew From Tripadvisor said:

“The route (along with most other ferries in the West of Scotland) is currently run by Caledonian MacBrayne, which is owned by the Scottish Government. The ships used by CalMac are also owned by the Scottish Government, through a separate company and leased to CalMac. There is a legal obligation on the Scottish Government to tender these routes from time to time, owing to European competition law and restrictions on state aid.

Personally, I very much hope that the current arrangements continue, but the process of route tendering is not one which will go away – unless the law is changed at EU level.”

Someone from the Isle of Mull page on Facebook said:

“Many of us here believe that competition could also be a good thing. If you look at Pentland Ferries run by a private company, and compare it to the heavily subsidised Northlink ferry service, it shows what can be done by the private sector. For our island to survive, it requires an efficient, low cost service to operate. Calmac could do a lot better, if competition was in place.”

Ralph
Twitter: mullescape

If this is the case, does that automatically mean that, because staff have good working conditions this vital service should therefore be put to tender to a private profit-centred business?

I’d agree that there are issues with historic working practices but I’m concerend that any changes made to the way the service operates are made for much broader reasons.

I’m not against the notion of tendering, but on what basis and what guarantees that the Government will not abandon responsibility to a private sector who are unlikely to seek such a franchise for purely benign reasons.

This route is so important on so many economic levels that I fear for it being used as an experiment as the consequences of making it worse than it was before could be disasterous for the island’s economic well-being.

Cheers

Ralph