ScotGov-owned CalMac get £1.6m crew bill for ferries that never sailed

CalMac has run up the costs to March this year while there has been delay after delay in the plans to see the Glen Sannox and the unnamed Hull 802 finally take their first passengers.

Details of the taxpayer cash-supported ferry operator's costs which have been described as "astounding" and "outrageous" come amidst further delays to the delivery of two lifeline ferry vessels Glen Sannox and Hull 802.

They are already over five years late with costs initially set for £97m set to at least quadruple.

But there is confusion over who foots the bill, with CalMac first indicating crew salaries were funded by the yard.  Later it indicated that costs would be recovered by the yard's owners, the Scottish Government.

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Ferguson Marine, the Scottish Government-owned shipyard firm at the centre of the ferry fiasco, said: “We are not responsible for paying the wages of CalMac crew.”

"There is no clause in [Ferguson Marine's] contract requiring us to pay crew wages for CalMac staff.”

According to CalMac details, the crew costs up to March this year are approximately £1.6m. This figure includes salary, travel and subsistence, pension, and National Insurance contributions, but excludes training.

According to CalMac the rate of pay is in line with the salary ranks.

It has emerged that as of March 17, 14 staff have been recruited to support MV Glen Sannox, including three masters, three chief engineers, three second engineers, and five third engineers.

While the exact start dates of the crew varied, most new crew members have been employed since February 2022.

According to a CalMac document, crew were recruited to support the vessel build activities ongoing at nationalised Ferguson Marine.

The ferry operator said that "crew appointments were all approved by the yard to align with expected vessel delivery date[s]".

It went on: "As such, crew salary is funded via the yard. Once the vessels are delivered and handed over to CalMac, crew costs are attributable to CalMac."

Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain, the former convenor of the rural economy and connectivity committee whose probe into the construction of the ferries for CalMac branded the management process a "catastrophic failure" was astonished at the costs.

Mr Mountain, who has been tracking the spends in relation to both vessels, said: "It's not just the islanders who have been left waiting for the Glen Sannox to be ready, but the crew too.

“We’ve seen delay after delay and budget overrun after overrun, and now we discover that £1.6million has been spent on a crew for a ferry that still hasn’t been finished.

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“It is astounding that crew have been employed for over a year already and I seriously question whether this is providing good value for the taxpayer without one passenger sailing.

“All this is another consequence of this Government’s inability to manage money and jobs.”