A POLL on this website has shown that nearly 80 per cent of respondents say that the town-centre Dunoon-Gourock ferry should not be a passenger-only service.

208 people said no to the question: ‘Should the town-centre Dunoon - Gourock ferry be passenger only?’ - while 58 answered yes (as of on Thursday morning).

Posters on our website’s forum were concerned that, while people say they want two vehicle services, they only use one of them.  One poster said: “…people want two competing services - the fact that one can run as often as it chooses and the other is restricted to one an hour doesn't quite match that criterion, does it?
“Miss a Calmac ferry and you've got an hour's wait - miss Western's and you've got perhaps ten minutes - it doesn't take a genius to work out why Western's creaming off the bulk of the traffic.”

There is doubt, however, that the respondents to our poll will get their wish.

After the Scottish government revealed last week that ‘suitable second-hand vessels’ are available if the winning bidder needs them, and that this ‘includes tonnage that can carry vehicles’ we asked the government what criteria had been used to assess the suitability of the second-hand vessels.  Two of the questions asked of the Scottish government are: ‘What, if any, technical criteria are being used to define “suitable second-hand vessels?’ and ‘Does the Scottish government’s have a back up plan in the event of there being no bids, if so, what is it?’  All 11 questions posed to the government can be seen on below.

A Scottish government spokesman explained that providing specific detail about the evaluation criteria could prejudice the procurement process before saying: “The Scottish government is tendering for a Gourock- Dunoon service in line with EU procurement rules and will put in place a compliant contract in due course.   
“It will be for each bidder for the contract to bring forward vessel solutions appropriate to the service they are proposing to run.”

There was no answer to any of the questions.

Professor Neil Kay, a recognised authority on the economics of ferry operations, said: “This would be laughable if this were not so serious. The government is telling us that there are ‘suitable’ vessels available for the Gourock-Dunoon ferry tender, but that EU procurement rules prevent them from publishing the criteria (if any) they have used to judge ‘suitability’.  They are also telling us that these same rules prevent them from saying what they would do in the event of their being no bidders for this tender.
“All the evidence so far is that there are no vehicle-carrying ferries available under conditions that would be regarded as ‘suitable’ by commercial operators or the communities that depend on these ferry services. The reality is that the route is being set up to go passenger-only, and the government is trying to hide these facts behind their own private interpretation of ‘suitability’ and what looks like systematic misrepresentation of EU rules.
“The government's response here must be challenged. I am also sure the European Commission will be interested in finding out what the government is blaming them for this time.”

Time is running out for the many Cowal people who want to ensure that Dunoon keeps a town-centre vehicle carrying ferry. February 15 was the deadline for expressions of interest in the route. Only four companies made the effort. The last, ill-fated, tender for the service saw fourteen expressions of interest and, in the end, no takers for the tender.

The Scottish government is committed to having the new service in place by June 2011.

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Questions asked of the Scottish Government:

What, if any, technical criteria are being used to define “suitable second-hand vessels”?

What, if any, financial criteria (such as purchase cost? operating cost?) are being used to define “suitable second-hand vessels”?

What, if any, criteria relating to customer use and comfort are being used to define “suitable second-hand vessels”?

How many “suitable” second-hand vehicle-carrying ferries have been identified and are available?

Does MV Ali Cat qualify as a “suitable second-hand vessel”?

Does MV Jupiter qualify as a “suitable second-hand vessel”?

Why should any bidder buy vehicle-carrying vessels for a tender that will last a maximum of 6 years with no guarantee of renewal and could leave the operator with several million pounds of redundant assets on their hands after 6 years?

Given that the previous tender attracted ten expressions of interest but no bids, and given there are only four expressions of interest this time, why should any bids be expected this time?

Does the Scottish Government’s have a back up plan in the event of there being no bids, if so, what is it?

 
If it is possible to apparently identify “suitable second-hand vessels” for the Gourock-Dunoon route in only a few weeks, why is the Scottish Government spending £25mill and taking several years to new-build a “suitable vessel” for the CalMac Islay route?

If the tender succeeds in obtaining “suitable second-hand vessels” for Gourock-Dunoon, will purchasing second-hand vessels be adopted as standard procurement policy for all other CalMac routes in future, and if not, why not?

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