CalMac: What is Scottish ferry company CalMac? How big is CalMac's fleet? What are the main challenges?
CalMac has hit the headlines for ferry breakdowns and service problems - but how big is the fleet at the ferry firm’s disposal, what is its history and what are the major challenges to come?
CalMac is Britain’s biggest ferry operator with a network stretching 200 miles along Scotland’s west coast from Stornoway to Campbeltown.
The Scottish Government-owned firm is struggling with an ageing fleet that is increasingly prone to breakdown and requiring extended maintenance.
This has been caused by a hiatus in ordering new vessels and huge delays to the completion of its two of its second largest vessels, Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, for the main Arran route - one of CalMac’s busiest.
What is CalMac’s history?
CalMac - previously Caledonian MacBrayne - was established by a merger of the Caledonian Steam Packet Company and David MacBrayne in 1973. It can trace its roots back to steamer firm David Hutcheson & Co in 1851.
CalMac Ferries is a wholly-owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne, which is owned by ministers. In 2006, CalMac was split to meet European Union competition rules as it provided a monopoly service, with its ships and ports switched to a new Scottish Government firm, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited, or Cmal.
Since then, CalMac has operated under a series of contracts from ministers, winning an eight-year award in 2016 after sole rival Serco’s bid was ruled non-compliant.
That was extended a further year while Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop considered whether to make a direct award of a further contract, which she confirmed in May 2025.
CalMac employs some 1,700 people, including 1,000 aboard ferries and 200 at its headquarters in Gourock.
How large is CalMac’s fleet?
The company has 35 ferries which operate 30 routes covering 55 destinations, with some 136,000 sailings a year that range from five minutes to 7 hours duration.
Loch Seaforth, which links Ullapool with Stornoway, is its largest vessel. Built in 2014, it can carry up to 700 passengers and 143 cars or 20 lorries.
Glen Sannox and sister vessel Glen Rosa each have space for some 850 passengers and 127 cars or 16 lorries. However, their original 2018 completion date at the Scottish Government-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow was repeatedly put back.
Glen Sannox was finally delivered to CalMac in November and entered passenger service in January after trials, but Glen Rosa is not now scheduled to be finished until the end of 2026.
CalMac’s oldest ferry is the 48-year-old Isle of Cumbrae, which operates to Portavadie-Tarbert route across Loch Fyne.
Its latest smaller vessel is Loch Frisa, which was built in 2014 and bought from Norway in 2022 . It operates on the main Mull route between Oban and Craignure.
What are the main challenges affecting CalMac?
The age and shortage of vessels has stretched the fleet to the limit. Unlike in the past, it has no spare vessel, so when one is out of action, ferries have to be moved around the network to cover the gap.
This has led to reduced capacity on some routes where smaller ferries have acted as stand-ins or the frequency of sailings has had to be cut. It also led to the summer Ardrossan-Campbeltown service being suspended in 2026 for a fourth year.
A catamaran, Alfred, has been chartered from Orkney-based Pentland Ferries to temporarily bolster the fleet and is operating on the main Arran route via Troon.
CalMac’s veteran ferries undergoing lengthy repairs include Caledonian Isles, the principal vessel on the main Arran route between Ardrossan and Brodick, which did not return to service until October 2025 - an unprecedented 21 months out of action for a CalMac ferry.
Sailings on the route, which carried 689,000 passengers in 2025, have been further disrupted by the poor state of Ardrossan harbour. One berth has been permanently closed since February 2023 and the other is unusable in strong easterly winds, with ferries being diverted to Troon, further down the Clyde.
The Scottish Government nationalised the harbour by buying it from Peel Ports Group in March 2026 to help accelerate its upgrade to accommodate Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa.
Additional pressure has come from the success of fare reductions of up to 40 per cent under the Scottish Government’s road equivalent tariff scheme to bring ferry travel into line with the cost of going by road.
However, ministers consulted on removing the discount for island visitors but the SNP ruled it out in its 2026 election manifesto.
Why was CalMac chief executive Robbie Drummond sacked?
Mr Drummond is believed to have been ousted in April 2024 to improve the company’s chances of being awarded a new contract after it suffered a series of problems such as the botched launch of a new ticketing system. Chair Erik Østergaard is said to have wanted a change of culture by making top-level changes because he believed not all CalMac’s problems could be blamed on the ageing fleet. Duncan Mackison, a former chief executive of CalMac parent firm David MacBrayne, has been appointed interim chief executive.
What will be CalMac’s next new ferries?
Four ferries are being built at the Cemre Marin Endustri in Turkey for the Islay route between Kennacraig, Port Ellen and Port Askaig, and the Skye-Harris-North Uist triangle between Uig, Tarbert and Lochmaddy.
However, they have also suffered a series of delays, currently of 15 months, due to labour shortages caused by a devastating earthquake in the country, and supply problems due to the war in Ukraine and unrest in the Middle East forcing shipping to make lengthy diversions.
The first of the vessels, Isle of Islay, was completed in January 2026 for the Islay route, with Loch Indaal due to follow later in the year and the other two, Lochmor and Claymore, in 2027. They will be able to carry 450 passengers and 100 cars or 14 lorries.
However, concerns about the future of the Cemre shipyard led the Scottish Government to pay the remaining £23 million cost of the ferries in June 2026 to take ownership so they could be moved elsewhere for completion if necessary Meanwhile, a Polish shipyard was awarded a contract in March 2025 for seven smaller electric ferries for CalMac following a competition after the Scottish Government said it was unlikely the order could be legally handed direct to Ferguson Marine.
The vessels, to be delivered between 2027 and 2029, are for the Mull-Iona route, and between Mull and Kilchoan and Lochaline on the mainland. Others will serve links such as Tayinloan-Gigha and Portavadie-Tarbert.
The ferries’ names were announced in December 2025 after a poll.
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