CalMac interim chief executive Duncan Mackison speak to The Scotsman

Transcript

00:00Duncan, you've rejoined the company a few months ago. What's your outlook on the immediate

00:06future for CalMac?

00:08So I'm feeling very positive for two reasons. One is we've got new vessels on the way and

00:13big investment in infrastructure that's going to take place over the next year or two. And

00:17also I've got the backing of the board and the Scottish government to invest more in

00:22the frontline services for CalMac. So my sense is that we're moving into a different era

00:28where people are going to start to see and feel change in the services that we deliver.

00:34And how soon do you expect your passengers to see that difference?

00:38Well, certainly the vessels will be coming in over the next few months. Glen Sannox is

00:43due to arrive over the next couple of months and then we have more ferries arriving from

00:48Turkey coming in next year. So I think really over the next year is the kind of period where

00:54people will start to see things changing for the better.

00:57And when the likes of Glen Sannox finally enters passenger service, what difference

01:02will people see there?

01:04Well, for the customer, it's a modern, forward-looking passenger ferry. So people will see that from

01:11the outside. They will notice it when they're travelling on board and they feel the smoothness

01:15of the engines and the quality of the ride and the stability of the ride. And also the

01:19environment inside, the seating, the facilities, the decor are in keeping with a modern ferry

01:26and it will match the standards of the best ferries in Europe.

01:31People have been waiting more than six years for these vessels. How confident are you that

01:36they are finally going to enter service just in a few months?

01:39Well, we're now involved in the closing stages of the build. I'm involved in weekly calls

01:46about how that's going to be completed. We have teams, we have a master and a chief engineer

01:52and other members of our team working at the yard full-time and we've seen the results

01:58of the trials that have started to take place. So we are confident that it's coming towards

02:04us in the next month or two.