Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2026 [Draft]
I am glad to hear Mr Gibson’s welcome of the Government’s acquisition of Ardrossan harbour, which is a commitment that the Government gave to Parliament. It is another commitment delivered by my Government and enables us to take forward the securing of the Ardrossan to Brodick connection for servicing Arran.
I must push back a little on Mr Gibson’s reference to a “zero-vessel” service for Arran, because the Claonaig to Lochranza service has been operating as a shuttle and all presenting traffic has been dealt with, although I accept that there has been disruption to Ayrshire services.
The MV Caledonian Isles is now back in service. I checked the marine traffic app before I came to Parliament today to see whether it is operating just now, and it is. The MV Glen Sannox is out on sea trials off the coast of Troon and I hope that it will return to service. Caledonian MacBrayne has made it clear that the new ferry that has come to us from the Cemre yard, the MV Isle of Islay, is on standby, should it need to be deployed to the Isle of Arran route in advance of its introduction to service on the Islay route when the summer timetable comes in on 27 March.