INVEST TO KEEP OUR FERRIES AFLOAT

What should be a boon has become a bane. The number of passengers visiting our islands is booming, at record levels and generating welcome tourist income to some of the poorest parts of our country, but the main method of getting there, by ferry, is breaking down. So far this year five ships on the Clyde and Hebridean services have been out of service. On Arran this weekend, the country’s busiest route, one of the two ferries was out of action and the other, the antique MV Isle of Arran, has also had its problems this summer. The old boat, a beige time capsule, was supposed to be replaced by a new high-tech, environmentally-friendly vessel called the Glen Sannox, but that has been delayed. . http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16735854.invest-to-keep-our-ferries-afloat/