Lifeline ferry services see costs doubled by fuel price rises

The Communications Director of west coast ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), Hugh Dan MacLennan, has revealed that the company’s fuel costs ‘have risen from around £10m a year to over £20m’. At the same time he noted that: ‘under the terms of the contract signed to provide lifeline services, the additional fuel costs are met by the Scottish Government.’ A Scottish Government spokesman said:’While fuel duty is a reserved issue, we are working with representatives within the industry to press Westminster for change.’ A sobering statistic from CalMac is that every time one penny is added to the cost of a litre of diesel, it takes another £500,000 or so to keep the company’s vessels operating its twenty-six west coast lifeline services, including all of the Argyll routes..