Replacement Orkney ferry fleet could cost £800m - council

The taskforce is looking at replacing Orkney's aging ferry fleet

The cost of replacing Orkney's ferry fleet could cost more than £800m, according to Orkney Islands Council.

It claims to have seen the figure in a report for Transport Scotland from CMAL - which owns CalMac's boats on the Hebrides and Clyde routes.

The council met with Scotland's transport Minister Fiona Hylop to discuss the ageing ferry feet.

Ms Hyslop said she had not yet seen the CMAL report but urged caution around initial estimates.

She told BBC Radio Orkney's Around Orkney programme that she "didn't acknowledge" the scale of the cost.

She said the cost quoted may have included work on harbours, options for different boats, as well as replacement of the existing fleet.

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The £800m figure is based on an estimate from an earlier study of £700m, plus a suggested 20% for inflation and additional costs.

The council is not asking for the full sum, but leader James Stockan said it showed how important finding funding for the fleet replacement would be.

Constructive conversation

Ms Hyslop visited the islands to discuss the strategy and finances for replacing the ferries.

Despite a commitment to meet monthly, the second ferries task force meeting took place more than six months after the first.

The task force was set up to prepare a plan in time for the Scottish government's budget-setting process, which is due to begin next month.

Mr Stockan said: "We have been negotiating with government for more than 15 years to get a ferry replacement programme set up.

"It's going to cause the government and ourselves quite a bit of work to do in the next month, but I believe the transport minister fully understood the issue.

"We had some very constructive conversation, but that conversation probably should have been had in April when the meeting had been cancelled from."

Ms Hyslop has said the UK government should also play a role in resolving ferry issues in Orkney.

Additional reporting provided by Andrew Stewart at the Local Democracy Reporting Service.