Caledonian MacBrayne

David MacBrayne

MacBrayne's, initially known as David Hutcheson & Co., began in 1851 as a private steamship operator when G. and J. Burns, operators of the largest of the Clyde fleets, decided to concentrate on coastal and transatlantic services and handed control of their river and Highland steamers to a new company in which Hutcheson, their manager of these services, became senior partner. Their main route went from Glasgow down the Firth of Clyde through the Crinan Canal to Oban and Fort William, and on through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness. David Hutcheson was married to Margaret Dawson who was born at her parents home 'Bonnytoun House' in Linlithgow. She was the sister of Adam Dawson who owned the St. Magdalene Whisky Distillery in Linlithgow and sister to James Dawson who were also born at 'Bonnytoun House'. In 2011 Glasgow historian Robert Pool added over 200 letters and documents to his collection relating to David Hutcheson and the Dawson family.^[2]

With the retirement of the founders of David Hutcheson & Co in the 1870s, their partner (and nephew of Messrs. Burns) David MacBrayne gained full ownership, and changed the company's name accordingly. It remained in the hands of the MacBrayne family until 1928 when, unable to carry on, it was acquired jointly by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and Coast Lines. Its ships featured red funnels with a black top.

Caledonian Steam Packet Company

The Caledonian Railway at first used the services of various early private operators of Clyde steamers, then began operating steamers on its own account on 1 January 1889 to compete better with the North British Railway and the Glasgow and South Western Railway. It extended its line to bypass the G&SW's Prince's Pier at Greenock and continue on to the fishing village of Gourock, where they had purchased the harbour.

After years of fierce competition between all the fleets, the Caledonian and G&SW were merged in 1923 into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and their fleets were amalgamated into the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. Their funnels were painted yellow with a black top. At the same time the North British Railway fleet became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (which built the PS Waverley in 1947). With nationalisation in 1948 the LMS and LNER fleets were amalgamated under British Railways with the name Clyde Shipping Services. In 1957 a reorganisation restored the CSP name, and in 1965 a red lion was added to each side of the black-topped yellow funnels. The headquarters remained at Gourock pierhead.

At the end of December 1968 management of the CSP passed to the Scottish Transport Group, which gained control of MacBrayne's the following June. The MacBrayne service from Gourock to Ardrishaig ended on 30 September 1969, leaving the Clyde entirely to the CSP.

Caledonian MacBrayne

MV Jupiter leaving Dunoon

MV Caledonian Isles at Gourock

On 1 January 1973 the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. acquired most of the ships and routes of MacBrayne's and commenced joint Clyde and West Highland operations under the new name of Caledonian MacBrayne, with a combined headquarters at Gourock. Funnels were now painted red with a black top, and a yellow circle at the side of the funnel featuring the red Caledonian lion. In 1974 a new car ferry service from Gourock to Dunoon was introduced with the ferries MV Jupiter and MV Juno.

In 1990 the ferry business was spun off as a separate company, keeping the Caledonian MacBrayne brand, and shares were issued in the company. All shares were owned by the state, first in the person of the Secretary of State for Scotland, and (after devolution) by the Scottish Government.

A joint venture between Caledonian MacBrayne and the Royal Bank of Scotland named NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries won the tender for the subsidised Northern Isles services, previously run by P&O Scottish Ferries, commencing in 2002. The ambitious programme ran into financial difficulties, and the service was again put out to tender. Caledonian MacBrayne won this tender, and formed a separate company called NorthLink Ferries Limited which began operating the Northern Isles ferry service on 6 July 2006.^[3] On 29 May 2012, NorthLink Ferries Ltd lost the contract for provision of the Northern Isles ferry services to Serco.^[4]

Restructuring

To meet the requirements of European Union Community guidelines on state aid to maritime transport, the company's routes were put out to open tender. To enable competitive bidding on an equal basis, Caledonian MacBrayne was split into two separate companies on 1 October 2006. Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) retained ownership of CalMac vessels and infrastructure, including harbours, while CalMac Ferries Ltd submitted tenders to be the ferry operator. Their bid for the main bundle, Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services, succeeded and on 1 October 2007 CalMac Ferries Ltd began operating these services on a six-year contract. The Gourock to Dunoon service was the subject of a separate tender, but no formal bids were made. In an interim arrangement CalMac Ferries Ltd continued to provide a subsidised service on this route,^[3][5] until 29 June 2011, when Argyll Ferries took over the service.

On 14 July 2009, it was announced that CalMac would begin Sunday sailings to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis from Sunday 19 July. These had historically faced strong opposition from Sabbatarian elements in the Lewis community, particularly the Lord's Day Observance Society and the Free Church of Scotland. However, CalMac stated that EU equality legislation made it unlawful to refuse a service to the whole community because of the religious beliefs of a part of it.^[6]

Other vessels

• MV Loch Bhrusda and MV Loch Linnhe are spare and relief vessels.
• Two new dual fuel ferries are being built by Ferguson Marine Engineering.^[12]
  • MV Glen Sannox is due to enter service on the Arran station in summer 2019.^[13]
  • Hull 802 is due to enter service in 2020 on the Uig Triangle.^[14]

Passenger numbers

Passenger numbers on the 10 busiest CalMac routes (2017)^[15]

Route	Passengers (2017)	Passengers (2016)	Change (2016–17)	% change	Passengers (2014)	Passengers (2006)
Ardrossan–Brodick	844,198	828,262	15,936	1.92%	715,048	735,928
Largs–Cumbrae	745,619	738,549	7,070	0.96%	706,172	722,561
Wemyss Bay/Gourock–Rothesay	713,906	675,714	38,192	5.65%	674,088	759,680
Oban–Craignure	670,248	644,827	25,421	3.94%	572,084	640,426
Mallaig–Armadale	285,483	250,764	34,719	13.85%	239,453	188,929
Ullapool–Stornoway	275,699	264,055	11,644	4.41%	226,061	181,160
Fionnphort–Iona	250,311	243,211	7,100	2.92%	223,978	255,501
Colintraive–Rhubodach	216,204	232,015	15,811	6.81%	214,550	264,644
Kennacraig–Islay	214,334	203,219	11,115	5.47%	189,822	152,526
Uig–Tarbert/Lochmaddy	195,752	188,138	7,614	4.05%	194,416	148,587

Notes

Bibliography