Government rules out return of the Clipper Ranger
9 October 2018
A chance to acquire a former Stornoway freight ferry to cover busy shipping periods for the Western and Northern Isles has been turned down by the Scottish Government.
The MV Clipper Ranger is available for sale or hire.
The government has ruled out her return on the Lewis -
Despite claiming it has embarked on a world wide search for ships to boost the overstretched Cal Mac fleet, the government has rejected buying or hiring the Ranger which is lying on the Mersey.
The Ranger could be swapped between Caledonian MacBrayne and Northlink fleets to cover spikes in demand on services to different island groups, highlighted her owner, Seatruck.
Alasdair Eagles, chief executive of Seatruck, confirmed: “The Clipper Ranger is up for sale.
“We are also open to any offer to charter the vessel.
“We have held a number of discussions with the Scottish Government regarding all of the options for charter or sale.
“Transport Scotland do not want to proceed with any of the options we put forward.”
The vessel operated an overnight haulage service on Stornoway run in 2014 alongside the daytime passenger ferry, MV Isle of Lewis.
Additional peak sailings have been cut since 2016 with the Seaforth now the sole ship on the run while a growing number of travellers are being refused bookings on their preferred sailings.
Lewis now only gets two runs a day at the height of summer -
In 2019, maximum capacity would be reached between June and September at current growth rates, warns a comhairle report.
Critics say a dedicated freight vessel will go a very long way to alleviating this capacity issue, allowing the islands to enjoy significantly increased economic growth.
Using her on the Stornoway route over the summer would free up space on the MV Loch Seaforth for locals and tourists.
At other times the Ranger would be useful for Orkney and Shetland when they experience when there is known pressure for freight services such as through the autumn said Seatruck.
Presently, the government is hiring her sister ship, MV Arrow, to help cope with high volumes of livestock movements at this time of year. Problems with one of the existing vessels recently resulted in fresh salmon exports being left behind on the island.
Transport Scotland stressed ministers gave “serious consideration” to acquiring the MV Clipper Ranger, but the “limitations on her deployment meant that she would have made little contribution to our priority of wider network resilience.”
The costs of having the vessel in the fleet year round are also “prohibitive.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Capacity in peak periods is one of the challenges
for our ferry services, particularly given the very welcome increase in passenger
numbers which has followed the successful introduction of road equivalent tariff.
“Work is also already underway to appraise, and subsequently to deliver on, further
improvements to the ferry services to the Western Isles, including the important
Ullapool-
“Over £1.2 billion has been invested in ferry services across
the Clyde and Hebrides since 2007, including the MV Loch Seaforth and harbour upgrades
at Stornoway and Ullapool.
“We are continuing to invest in new vessels and ferry infrastructure to renew the fleet, with the second vessel being built at Fergusons going into the Western Isles fleet.
“We also continue to look to seek suitable second hand vessels which could supplement
the fleet.”
