I am the chief executive officer of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, and I am accompanied today by Jim Anderson, our director of vessels.
As the committee will be aware, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd—which is more commonly known as CMAL—is 100 per cent owned by Scottish ministers. Transport Scotland, our sponsoring body, is represented by the head of the ferries unit, Graham Laidlaw.
As an organisation, CMAL has responsibility for ferry assets for the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services, which are known as CHFS, and the northern isles ferry services, known as NIFS. Based in Port Glasgow, it has 31 employees, and that small professional team shows great dedication and commitment to supporting the lifeline services that our ferries provide. Our board comprises four non-executive and four executive directors.
As our name implies, we are the owner of the maritime assets. CMAL does not operate the ferries; the day-to-day performance of the vessels is undertaken by commercial operators under public service contracts awarded by ministers. A total of 31 vessels currently operates in the CHFS network, and those vessels are chartered to the operator, CalMac.
A total of five vessels operates in the NIFS network, three of which are owned by CMAL and were purchased in April. The other two have been bare-boat chartered from a third-party company called Fortress and then sub-chartered to the operator, Serco NorthLink Ferries.
In addition, we own 26 port facilities on the west coast that support the CHFS network. The number of harbour facilities on the west coast totals 51, which means that we have responsibility for just over 50 per cent of the total, and the harbours are operated by CalMac under a harbour operating agreement. We work closely with Transport Scotland, and we are in many instances its professional and trusted advisors within our specialist area of expertise.
Under its financial memorandum, CMAL is not permitted to borrow money from any organisation other than the Scottish Government without prior permission, but we have a number of funding streams that can be placed into three main categories. The first is our revenue stream. CMAL as asset owner receives bare-boat charter revenues—essentially lease payments—from the CHFS and NIFS ferry operators. We also receive harbour dues from the CHFS operator, and there are some minor revenue streams from third parties such as cruise vessels, fish landings and property leases.
Secondly, CMAL receives voted loans from the Scottish Government to purchase vessels, either new builds or second-hand tonnage, in accordance with long-term fleet renewal plans. The funds that have been borrowed, plus a small interest rate, are paid back to the Government throughout the life of the vessels. Indeed, such voted loans have financed the two vessels that are under construction at Ferguson Marine. The single exception is the vessel MV Loch Seaforth, which was financed by Lloyds Bank and delivered into service in 2014 under a leasing structure.
The third stream is grant in aid for harbours. Typically, grants that we receive from the Government have an intervention rate of 75 per cent of the capital project value. The other 25 per cent of the funding comes from the CMAL revenue streams that I have previously mentioned, and the grants are not paid back to the Government.
We hope that that gives you a brief outline of our role and responsibilities. We are now at your disposal to answer questions on Government investment in the Clyde and Hebrides services.