The lifeline ferries that connect Orkney’s island communities are said to be losing £200,000 a month, council bosses have warned.
The publicly owned ferries cost £7m-a-year to run and are funded by Orkney Islands Council and the Scottish Government, with Holyrood contributing £5m of the annual total.
But the council want the government to pick up the whole bill – with the desperate financial plight increasing because of the pandemic.
Nine ferries operate between Orkney mainland and 13 islands.
Now the Board of Orkney Ferries has made a renewed direct appeal to the Scottish Government for emergency funding to offset the damaging impact on the company of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Board chairman, councillor David Dawson, said the company – which provides Orkney’s inter-island ferry service – is struggling to survive a major drop in income since lockdown measures were first imposed.
In early August, the board appealed to the Government – in an open letter sent to Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity – for financial support similar to that provided for other transport companies.
“We’re extremely disappointed that there has been no response to date,” Councillor Dawson said. “Since March, our ferries have run with their full complement of crew – but carrying a drastically reduced number of passengers because of social distancing requirements.
“We are losing over £600,000 in income every quarter. That poses a grave risk to the company and the literally lifeline ferry service Orkney’s most vulnerable communities depend on for food, medicine, fuel and other vital supplies.”
Mr Dawson said other ferry operators, including NorthLink, CalMac and Pentland Ferries, had received emergency support from the Government, as had the operators of the Glasgow Subway and Edinburgh Trams.
“The Cairngorm Funicular Railway, which has been closed with structural faults since 2018, has recently been pledged £20 million in public funding. It beggars belief that such a staggering sum should be awarded for what is essentially a tourist attraction – when there has been no emergency support for the vital service Orkney Ferries delivers for our North and South Isles,” he said.
“I find this inexplicable and it causes me to question how seriously the Scottish Government is committed to sustaining island communities. The losses the company is making are unsustainable. We are appealing once more to the Cabinet Secretary to come to our aid at this critical time.”
Orkney Islands Council has long argued that the service should be fully funded by the Scottish Government, in line with similar lifeline ferry operations elsewhere in Scotland.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson has said: “Local authorities are wholly responsible for their own internal ferry services, but we understand the significant financial challenges they can face.
“Additional funding of £11.5m for local authority ferry services has been allocated within the 2020/21 Budget. This is an increase on the previous year in a challenging financial context and brings total support £32.5m over the past three years.
“We have also provided support of £750,000 to Orkney Islands Council towards the cost of replacing the Orkney Ferries vessel the MV Golden Mariana, with the purchase of the MV Nordic Sea.
“Internal ferries funding pressures as a result of Covid-19 should be considered as part of a wider ask from local authorities on Covid-19 related cost impacts.”
Orkney Islands Council has received £16.123m ferry funding from the government over the last three years.