Western Ferries, the independent Clyde ferry operator, is looking to expand its route network across the West Coast.
The privately-owned company that has operated a scheduled service between Gourock and Dunoon since 1972 - without subsidy - is looking at possible new services to Arran, Islay and Mull as well as a new link between the Cowal peninsula and Bute.
Speaking yesterday at the opening of its new berthing facilities at Gourock and Dunoon, managing director Gordon Ross called on the new Scottish Executive to loosen Cal-Mac's monopoly on Clyde and Western Isles ferry routes.
He said: "I believe there are significant commercial opportunities waiting to be exploited and I want to see this new Holyrood government institute an open water policy that will allow us to compete fairly with Cal-Mac.
"If the commercial barriers were removed, Western Ferries could turn most, if not all, of Cal-Mac's subsidised loss-making services into commercially viable, more frequent services, and with the bonus of significant savings to the taxpayer."
Yesterday's opening of the two new linkspans marks the completion of a major infrastructure upgrade by Western Ferries, which includes the construction of new berthing structures, improved car-marshalling and terminal facilities, at a cost of £4m.
The new linkspans each weigh approximately 135 tonnes and at 29m long are 50% larger than the existing linkspans to improve loading and unloading at tidal extremes and in bad weather.
The terminal improvements, begun in October 2006, follow on from the £5m investment in two new vessels, bringing Western Ferries' total investment on the route to over £9m in the last six years. The company now has four vessels and four linkspans serving the route, which last year carried 1.3 million passengers and around 600,000 cars.
Ross said the decision to upgrade the terminals was taken on capacity grounds. He said: "It has always been our policy to react as speedily as possible to passenger demand. And we found, especially in summer months, we really needed the extra lift.
"In the last 10 years we have carried 11 million passengers and seen our business grow by 37%. We currently run three crossings an hour between 6am and midnight on weekends, 10.30pm Mondays to Thursdays, 365 days a year. We are finding that more and more we need to run four boats an hour.
"So this opening is significant for the Scottish and local economy. The new infrastructure offers improved services and enhanced facilities for freight and passenger customers, which will enhance trade and tourism in the area. Additionally, as a successful Scottish company, we are proud to have worked with Scottish contractors and suppliers on this project.
"Western Ferries has a purchasing ethos of sourcing locally whenever possible. We are a significant employer in Dunoon - the company has over 55 Cowal employees. And we are proud of the fact these vessels and linkspans were both manufactured and delivered by Fergusons' Shipbuilders, Port Glasgow.
And Ross believes his company could contribute more, not just on the Clyde ferry routes but to the inner Hebrides, if the Scottish Executive were to address Cal-Mac's subsidies.
He said: "Western Ferries received a capital grant of £400,000 from HIE Argyll and Islands in respect of these improvements to our Dunoon terminal. That is all the subsidy we have had.
"Cal-Mac has had £13m in direct subsidy on the Gourock-Dunoon route over the past six years, yet it still makes a loss. Over the same period we've turned over £5.5m a year, and grown the traffic by almost 40%, most of it new traffic. On the Wemyss Bay-Rothesay route, the last ferry is at 7.45pm, and although they've put on two new boats, they've only managed to grow that by 8%.
"And not only does Cal-Mac receive subsidy, they control all the portage and berthing. And they don't even try and open it out to other traffic. They have had a brand new breakwater and linkspan put in at Dunoon at a cost of £6.5m.
"It is lying unused because they say they do not have the vessels to serve it. But they have never so much as lifted a phone to ask me if I wanted to use the berth. That is money they could be making, yet they leave it idle.
"On some routes their approach is not just non-reactive to passenger needs, it's an actual constraint on growth. Take Islay. The distillery industry there is having serious problems moving its product off the island.
"If Cal-Mac won't react, then for the good of the Scottish economy, it is time to open these routes to fair competition."
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