Pentland Ferries have withdrawn, on commercial grounds, from discussions on the offer of the Time Charter of the MV Pentalina with CalMac.

No specific advice has been sought from, or provided by, the Ferry Industry Advisory Group regarding (a) chartering additional ferry capacity, and (b) time chartering the MV Pentalina from Pentland Ferries on the Clyde and Hebrides routes operation.

Transport Scotland officials have continued to engage closely with CalMac and CMAL as key stakeholders on issues including additional tonnage.

Collective bargaining agreements are a matter for CalMac, its employees and the recognised trades unions. In the case of any additional ferries secured by CalMac through a “time charter”, the crews of these vessels are not employed by CalMac and are not covered by collective bargaining agreements which are currently in place with RMT and Nautilus. Any agreement with the Unions would be a matter for the vessel operator in that instance.

The Scottish Government does not process business appointment applications from former Ministers. These are considered by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) which publishes details of its advice in relation to appointments it is aware have been taken up, or announced, on its website: Advisory Committee on Business Appointments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

The number of Senior Civil Servants working in core Scottish Government and its Agencies who have requested approval under the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) rules in the last 5 years is provided in the following table:

CalMac Ferries Ltd will apply its standard ticketing arrangements and fares for whatever route the MV Pentalina is operating on.

The maximum passenger and vehicle carrying capacity of the vessels in the CalMac fleet that normally operate the routes they will consider deploying the MV Pentalina on, if chartered, are detailed in the following table.

Berthing trials of the MV Pentalina were carried out during the week commencing 14 June 2021, at the following ports on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) network: Campbeltown, Ardrossan, Brodick, Craignure, Kennacraig, Port Ellen, Oban, Stornoway and Ullapool.

Discussions are progressing between CalMac and Pentland Ferries with regards to the time charter of the MV Pentalina. The impact on the annual level of subsidy cannot be confirmed until negotiations have been completed.

CMAL employ a number of shipbrokers in their continuing search for second hand tonnage and engage closely with CalMac Ferries Ltd. In 2020 and up to 31 May 2021, CMAL assessed 133 vessels for possible suitability to operate on Scottish Government ferry routes.