Chamber and committees

The MV Coruisk carried 9514 passengers during the period of her deployment.

The Argyll Ferries Ltd (AFL) Gourock-Dunoon service suffered significant weather disruption during winter 2012-13 with a significant deterioration on the previous winter. Bad weather affected reliability during the winter season (November 2012 to March 2013) with only 86% of sailings taking place. March’s figure was down at 68%.

A limited number of options to improve the resilience of the service in the winter 2013-14 were available. A search for short-term replacement vessels had been initiated early in 2012 but this had not resulted in any suitable vessels offering significant performance improvements being found. The only vessel within the wider CalMac fleet available for deployment on the service was the MV Coruisk.

Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Deputy First Minister, announced to Parliament on 19 September 2013 her decision to deploy the MV Coruisk as an additional vessel to carry passengers on key peak sailings and to be on stand-by at other times.

The deployment at peak times ensured that key commuter services were strengthened and also addressed the concerns raised by AFL that the MV Coruisk would struggle to maintain the hourly return timetable. Keeping the deployment to two return sailings morning and evening gave confidence that any delays would not have significant knock-on effects to later services. This has proved to be the case.

The cost to Argyll Ferries Ltd of deploying the MV Coruisk on the Gourock-Dunoon service this winter was £658,000. The net cost to Transport Scotland was £142,000.

Please see the following information relating to the remaining three years of the Argyll Ferries Ltd public service contract:

This updates information provided in reply to parliamentary question S4W-08559 on 19 July 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The MV Coruisk covered the route when the other 2 vessels were unable to sail on 133 occasions. The MV Coruisk was late on 224 occasions.

There were 479 scheduled peak sailings for the MV Coruisk with 444 of these scheduled sailings taking place. 32 scheduled sailings were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, one for technical reasons and two due to the unavailability of the Gourock pier.

During the period of the deployment of the MV Coruisk, the MV Ali Cat had 1894 scheduled sailings. 1733 of these scheduled sailings were completed and 109 were late. 159 scheduled sailings of the MV AliCat were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, none for technical reasons and two due to the unavailability of the Gourock pier.

During the same period, the MV Argyll Flyer had 2982 scheduled sailings. 2725 of these scheduled sailings were completed and 117 were late. 239 scheduled sailings of the MV Argyll Flyer were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, 18 for technical reasons and none due to the unavailability of the shoreside infrastructure in Gourock.

A trial of the MV Coruisk on the route had been proposed and the results of this winter’s deployment will provide good information to inform future decision making. The purpose of the deployment was to improve the resilience and reliability of the service this winter. This has been achieved. No decisions have been taken regarding the deployment of the MV Coruisk on the Gourock-Dunoon service next year. This will be the subject of further discussions with the operator, Argyll Ferries Ltd, and further analysis of the costs and benefits.

The deployment of vessels on the Wemyss Bay-Rothesay route is an operational matter for CalMac Ferries Ltd.

The Scottish Government is fully supportive of aquaculture and wild fisheries as reflected by the National Marine Plan. Both are key sectors underpinning sustainable economic growth that supports employment and economic wellbeing of many fragile rural communities across Scotland. The National Marine Plan outlines our commitment to support industry’s own targets to grow marine finfish (including farmed Atlantic salmon) production sustainably to 210,000 tonnes (164,380 T in 2012); and shellfish, particularly mussels, sustainably to 13,000 tonnes (6,525 T) with due regard to the marine environment by 2020.

The Scottish Government’s Ministerial Group for Sustainable Aquaculture (MGSA) supports this planned sustainable growth and includes representation from industry, wild fish interests, environment NGOs, COSLA, the enterprise network, Crown Estate and regulatory bodies. It has seven focused working groups (Science and research, containment, wellboats, interactions, farmed fish health and welfare, shellfish, and capacity), and updates are published on the Marine Scotland website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/Fish-Shellfish/MGSA.

The next meeting of the MGSA is on 19 May 2014.

MGSA will seek to ensure the smooth implementation of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2013, which further enhances the existing robust regulatory framework in place in Scotland to maintain pristine Scottish waters, on which both sectors depend. The Act and the work of the MGSA will identify actions that can be taken that are appropriate and will strike the right balance between growing the aquaculture sector and protecting the marine environment.

The Scottish Government applies the criteria set by the European Commission for state aid eligibility. The main criteria are the beneficiary’s sector, size, and the activities being funded. It is therefore impossible to have a blanket approach in applying the criteria as every application for aid has to be assessed against these criteria. A company could only amend its classification if it changed its activities.