CalMac is more than just a transport operator, says their chief Martin Dorchester.

He told the Herald that he believes CalMac plays an important part in not just promoting the islands which they serve, but boosting the economy of the west coast.

Having launched their official bid to win the tender for the Clyde and Hebrides service last month, the chief executive of David MacBrayne Group, parent of Caledonian MacBrayne ferries, has said that he believes their company have submitted a strong bid to continue running the service.

They are vying with Serco for the local ferry services which includes Largs-Cumbrae, Wemyss Bay-Rothesay and Ardrossan-Arran with the final result expected in May - all three services feature in the top five busiest routes in the network. 

Talking about the tender, Martin said: “What we have been doing year on year is enhancing timetables, working on getting more money to invest in more vessels, and have worked hard on how we market the islands and communities.

“People get into a habit of talking about that you can run a transport operation cheaper and more efficiently, and I don’t see Cal Mac as simply a transport operation.

“I see Cal Mac as part of the west coast of Scotland economic support engine, I see Cal Mac part of facilitating livelihoods on the islands and the coast, trade, economy and growing rather than slash, burn and cut and we can deliver more efficiently.

“It is how we grow, develop, and how we best spend our money and we have done that and keep affirming that.”

Speaking about issues concerning ferry breakdowns and technical faults, now that the Road Equivalent Tariff has been launched, Martin said: “The Clyde is our busiest stretch of water, and we will see the real impact will be the summer. It takes up car deck space rather than passenger foot space, and that will be a challenge.

“Going forward, there are things we need to improve upon including integrated and smart ticketing, to try and encourage people on to other modes of transport, as most of our services have good train connections, and you can get onboard as a foot passenger, and that is sensible, so we are looking at a more integrated approach so you can get on the train, ferry and bus with the same ticket.

“The benefit of going forward in an eight year contract, we can invest more heavily in the future of the fleet. 

“Since I have been at Cal Mac, we have brought three new boats into the fleet and haven’t got rid of any, and by the end of summer, we will have another hybrid in the fleet.

“We are also looking at bringing together CMAL, the repair yards, ourselves and suppliers to see how we can work together better.

“If on some of our boats, a part breaks, where do we get that part from? It has to come from Germany, and when can we get this person from Germany? And we are told it is on 48 hour call out, but it will miss the connection here, and it will be 72 hours till we get it." 

Serco Bid Director Jonathan Riley, is also confident they have submitted a strong bid for the service.

He said: “The main concerns which stood out overall from our visits to the islands were the apparent worsening in service cancellations, overall reliability, resilience, communications, mismatches between demand and vessel capacity and the level of local engagement.  

“I and the team at Serco intend to ensure we bring our wider experience in the maritime sector to fully assess the causes looking at our operational management approach to improve reliability – ultimately to limit cancellations where possible and if we can to communicate contingency arrangements in advance of any sailing.

“Hand-in-hand with this issue is the reliability and resilience of the services."