Rennie: New data reveals scale and cost of ferry cancellation crisis

Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Willie Rennie has today revealed data obtained by his party which lays out the scale of the ferry fiasco blighting coastal Scotland – and the sheer cost of compensating passengers for the chaos.

According to the figures from operator CalMac, between 1st April and 30th June this year, £90,192 was paid out in response to customer's rights claims by passengers. Of that figure, £61,616 was paid out to cover the cost of alternative transport.

To make matters worse, the figure is nearly three times the total amount paid out in the whole of the 2025/6 financial year, reflecting just how disastrous this spring's wave of breakdowns and cancellations were.

In its response to the Scottish Liberal Democrats' FOI request, CalMac described the situation as "an unprecedented level of vessel unavailability as a result of planned annual overhauls and emerging technical issues".

In fact, in the first half of 2026, several routes saw shockingly high rates of cancellations because of problems with ferries:

Ardrossan-Brodick: 559 (22.7%) of sailings cancelled, 80.5% for technical reasons.

Kennacraig-Islay/Colonsay/Oban: 39 (24.7%) of sailings cancelled, 84.6% for technical reasons.

Mallaig-Lochboisdale: 142 (58.2%) of sailings cancelled, 95.8% for technical reasons.

In total in 2025, 15,150 services were cancelled out of 168,220 scheduled.

In the first half of 2026, 6,636 were cancelled out of 82,883 scheduled.

The freedom of information request also revealed that between 1 January 2025 and 30 June 2026, there were just 10 days on which all timetabled sailings across the network operated in accordance with the published timetable and that the total expenditure on vessel repairs and maintenance was £58,136,000 in FY 2025/26 and £7,082,000 in FY 2026/27 (to 30 June 2026).

Responding to the figures, Willie Rennie MSP said:

"Everyone knows the SNP's record on ferries is lamentable, but these figures spell out in black and white just how bad the situation really is.

"The first half of this year saw coastal and island communities forced to endure a level of chaos that no public service should ever sink to. Passengers are having to file claim after claim to fund their food and travel while they make other plans for often vital journeys. From missed schooldays and hospital appointments to serious damage to small businesses, this is a disaster that just keeps going.

"All the while, the SNP have failed to demonstrate contrition for what's happened to Scotland's ferries over the last two decades. Perhaps these figures will jolt John Swinney and Stephen Flynn into action so we can spare coastal communities this unnecessary suffering.

"What is needed now is to implement the Scottish Liberal Democrats' plan for a 30-year rolling programme of ferry construction and port infrastructure upgrades. It’s only common sense that new ferries have to be built before the old ones develop problems and start breaking down regularly."