Ferry Services

Transport Scotland is responsible for several different ferry services. This page looks at the subsidised routes and the contractors undertaking them.

Both sides of Cowal Peninsula are linked by a subsidised ferry that travels between Dunoon town centre and Gourock town centre. It is operated by Argyll Ferries Ltd (AFL) on behalf of Scottish Ministers. AFL were awarded a six-year contract in June 2011 to operate this service. 

View the contract, minute of extension, and variations.

As noted in an Interim report published on 20 December 2017, which set out emerging findings of the procurement policy review, arrangements are in hand to extend the contract by a further nine months, until the end of December 2018.

See more information on the Argyll Ferries website.

Steering group

The Steering Group was set up by Alex Neil MSP and helped to keep the service accountable to Scottish Ministers. The last meeting was chaired by the then Minister for Transport and the Islands, Derek Mackay MSP, on 19 January 2016.

Minutes of meetings

• 19 January 2016
• 5 May 2015
• Minutes of previous meetings

Feasibility study

MVA Consultancy and The Maritime Group carried out a feasibility study of a future passenger and vehicle service with the vehicle service portion being non-subsidised. Their report Gourock-Dunoon Ferry Service: Feasibility Study has been published.

A number of Technical Notes informed the final report and have also been published. These technical notes were work-in-progress and presented initial analysis which was subsequently revised in the light of new information and comments received.

• Technical notes
• Terms of reference
• Inception report

Following the completion of the Feasibility Study, the Scottish Government completed a market engagement exercise with potential operators. This will inform our future policy and procurement options and you can read the Market Engagement for the Gourock Dunoon Ferry Service report. Our aim is to provide long-term solutions for improving travel between the two towns.

The consensus is that for route reliability to improve, the service needs more suitable vessels. It is likely that new, purpose-built tonnage will be required.

A paper considering the options open to the Scottish Ministers under the relevant EU legislation and guidelines Gourock-Dunoon Ferry Service – Vessel Procurement has been published.

MV Coruisk

On 19 September 2013 the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, announced in Parliament that the MV Coruisk would be made available over the 2013/14 winter period as an additional passenger only vessel on the Gourock-Dunoon town centre route. The vessel has been deployed in subsequent years.

Reports on the deployment of the Coruisk have now been published.

Freedom of Information requests

In response to a Freedom of Information request asking for advice received from David MacBrayne Ltd on the use of the MV Coruisk on the Gourock-Dunoon route, the following response has been made available.

• Freedom of Information – Coruisk – released information (PDF, 343 KB)
• ANNEX 1 - Coruisk papers (2012) – redacted (PDF, 2 MB)
• ANNEX 2 - Coruisk reliability 2003-4 (PDF, 144 KB)
• ANNEX 3 - Coruisk indicative timetables 2012 (PDF, 177 KB)
• ANNEX 4 - Coruisk papers (2013) – redacted (PDF, 2 MB)

In response to a Freedom of Information request asking for information regarding RET fares, the following response has been made available.

• FoI/14/00953

In response to a Freedom of Information request asking for information regarding the MVA study, the concept of a “defensible subsidy” and the position of the European Commission, the following response has been made available.

• FoI/14/01212

In response to a Freedom of Information request asking for information regarding Harbour dues at Gourock and Dunoon, the following response has been made available.

• FoI/16/01356 & FoI/16/01404

CalMac Ferries Ltd provide the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services under tendered contract with Scottish Ministers. You can read about the plan for the future of these services in the Scottish Ferries Plan 2013-2022.

The contract for the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services runs from 2016 until 2024:

• Clyde and Hebrides contract: 8 years (October 2016 to October 2024)

CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne Ltd, which is wholly owned by Scottish Ministers.

Contracts and evaluations

On 17 February 2015, the Contract Notice was submitted to the Official Journal of the European Union, signalling the Scottish Government’s intention to take forward a competition that will see a contract awarded at the end of May 2016 for the provision of the services from October 2016.

• View contract tender documentation

The service is regularly evaluated. Read the results of those evaluations below:

• AMFC process evaluation Mallaig report March 2016 Undertaken by Why Research
• AMFC monitoring evaluation Campbeltown March 2016 Undertaken by Vector Research with JMP Consultants

The Scottish Government subsidise ferry services from the mainland to Orkney and Shetland via the Northern Isles Ferry Services contract, which over the course of the six year Public Service Contract from July 2012 to April 2018, is worth £223 million. Serco NorthLink Ferries won the tender against competition from the previous public sector operator, Northlink Ferries Ltd. The current contract is due to end in April 2018, with negotiations on-going in relation to an eighteen month extension to October 2019.

Northern Isles ferry services contract

• Operator: Serco NorthLink Ferries
• Contract: 6 years (July 2012 to April 2018)
• Areas served: Ferry services between (a) Aberdeen, Kirkwall and Lerwick and (b) Scrabster and Stromness.

For more information visit the Northlink Ferries website

A public consultation on options for future Northern Isles ferry services was conducted from 11 June to 30 September 2010.

The relevant consultation documents are available for information only below.

• Northern Isles Ferry Services – Consultation Document 2010
• Northern Isles Ferry Services - Analysis of Written Responses
• Scottish Ferries Review and Northern Isles Tendering Consultation: Update Paper March 2011
• Northern Isles Consultation Responses

MV Hamnavoe

A copy of the report into the breakdown of the MV Hamnavoe in April 2013.

Northern Isles freight contract

Operator: Shetland Line 1984 Limited, part of the Streamline Shipping Group

Contract length: 6 years (May 2008 to May 2014). View the contract

Areas served: Freight shipping service between Aberdeen, Kirkwall and Lerwick

Next Northern Isles Ferry Service Contract

Following the Minister for Transport and the Islands announcement in the Scottish Parliament on 20 December in relation to the Ferry Services Policy Procurement Review, both the Minister and Transport Scotland officials will conduct extensive consultation with key stakeholders and members of the local community, at which point, a decision in relation to the next Northern Isles Ferry Service Contract will be taken.

The following links provide information about major ferry services which are not funded by the Scottish Government:

• Orkney Islands Council
• Shetland Islands Council
• Highland Council
• Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
• Western Ferries
• Argyll & Bute Council
• Western Isles Council
• Pentland Ferries

There are also a number of privately owned operators who provide local ferry services throughout the Highlands and Islands.

Ferries provide a vital lifeline to our valued island and rural mainland residents and help to support thriving business and employment opportunities on the islands. The lifeline services on the Clyde and Hebrides network, the Northern Isles network and the Gourock – Dunoon service are provided under Public Service Contracts.

Transport Scotland’s Ferries Unit is responsible for overarching ferries policy, the procurement of the Public Service Contracts, contract management of these contracts and policy on future vessel and infrastructure investment. The Public Service Contracts specify the routes and timetables which the operator is required to provide, as well as the fares which apply.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) is a public body wholly owned by Scottish Ministers. It owns the ferries, ports and harbours and infrastructure necessary for vital ferry services serving the West coast of Scotland and the Clyde Estuary. It procures and owns the vessels, which are funded by the Scottish Government and owns and maintains 22 harbours. It leases the vessels to the ferry operator for use under the Public Service Contracts, which is mostly, but not wholly, under the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract. The operators of the Public Service Contracts, CalMac Ferries Ltd, Serco NorthLink Ferries and Argyll Ferries Ltd, deliver the ferry services to the islands. They are responsible for local consultation on various matters, such as timetables, with local communities, reporting back to Transport Scotland.

Consequently Transport Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Government, is actively engaged in a number of groupings with a range of key stakeholders to ensure that these ferry services are managed and developed in a way that is consistent with those aims.

In carrying out its various functions, Transport Scotland engages formally with different groups. A list of these groups and their membership is set out below. This list is not exhaustive and Transport Scotland engage with many other groups on an ad hoc basis.

Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services

Northern Isles Ferry Services