The Ministry of Defence is to be approached with a request to assist in providing a temporary ferry service for a crucial route in the Scottish Highlands.
Both the primary Corran Ferry vessel and a backup boat are currently undergoing repairs, which are expected to last for several weeks.
Ian Blackford, an SNP MP, has verified that he reached out to Defence Secretary Ben Wallace for assistance on Monday. Since then, an official request has been drafted but has not yet been submitted to the Ministry of Defence, the BBC reports.
Following a recent report in The Times, Mr. Blackford, MP for Ross, Skye, and Lochaber, tweeted the following.
I am grateful that Highland Council, The Scottish Government and the MoD are all pulling together so we can get a service up and running to Ardnamurchan until the MV Corran returns to service in s few weeks. https://t.co/XzyKmqVZ0C
— Ian Blackford 🇺🇦🏴 (@Ianblackford_MP) April 15, 2023
The Highland Council is responsible for owning, funding, and operating the Corran Ferry service. Although the Ministry of Defence has not yet received a formal request from the Scottish government, informal discussions regarding potential assistance have been taking place in recent days.
Scottish Transport Minister Kevin Stewart commented that the Highland Council has been in contact with the Scottish government concerning military support.
“The Highland Council has made contact with the Scottish government regarding military support. The Scottish government will liaise with the Highland Council to consider how this is taken forward. There is a structured process to follow for military assistance and any final decision will be for MoD.”
Does this look familiar? It should. It was an April Fools Day post we published and it’s now actually happening, albeit without the use of an assault ship…
I belive the MOD are willing to loan them a Type 45 for the job😎
I now have a strong urge to move to the highlands. please.
Can I just note the April 1 article in UKdefencejournal on a request for amphibious ships to support the Scottish ferry routes…..
Was thinking the same.
Perhaps Blackford read the article too, and that gave him the idea. 😊
That’s got to sting and what are they going to use? I’d imagine the point class would be the best as it’s the inly roll on/roll off vessels of a decent size.
Far to big. LCU would be the best fit.
I’d say the Mexeflote
No passenger capacity (12 only) on the Point class.
Seems the April the 1st joke was real.
I can’t believe the RN are going to need to provide this service. Is there no other option? Eg a ferry designed for civilian use. Otherwise one of the RN sea-lift support ships would be a better idea than a LPD.
Why can’t the Scottish government hire a civilian ship for a few weeks?
Point class is the only viable vessel in RN service.
To use as a bridge? If anything they would use an LCU! I think the humour may have been lost on some folks? Lol
Mr Bell, err the money has all gone missing, do you just listen to mainstream media ? It’s not just the SNP supporters donations either !
You’d think first they’d seek to charter a civilian ferry to plug the gap.
i hope they are getting billed for the fuel and RN ship hire.
Absolutely they will
You need to ask Why the Scottish Government cannot provision the Corran Narrows ferry service themselves, It would seem, When the Scottish Population and Its Metaphorical Wife would seem Extremely Well Acquainted With Shortcomings on the Subject of Ferry Procurement and Tendering For????
Unfortunately the current and back up ferry need repairs at the same time. Unlucky timing. They are small about the size of a landing craft utility.
It is good practice for the forces to need to deal with the public and civilian vehicles. They could need to do that in an disasters situation.
It’s only for a few weeks while the boats get worked on
Why is a back bench Westminster MP reaching out to anyone about a Ferry service in Scotland. There are like 4 different governments and agency’s involved and responsible for this an Ian Blackford is not part of any of them.
More SNP media nonsense. Always trying to make it look like they are doing something while not doing their actual job.
Time for a reminder that he ran a rather *nasty* campaign against the venerable Charles Kennedy back in 2015.
“Always trying to make it look like they are doing something while not doing their actual job.”
Both SNP & Tory HMG practice this.
Really, I’d say its was part of an exam you need to pass to be part of any political party. Its why we have the current government because the opposition didn’t do it job.
He’s the local MP? And clearly knows the Scottish Govt won’t do jack all until they are forced.
Yes but they have a local MSP that covers this.
I refer you back to the second part of my reply.
Ardnamurchan is in his constituency. Any MP from any party would want to be seen trying to help solve problems in their own constituency.
And if the request is denied SNP can say, look its pointless being part of a union if we can’t get help Politicians always look to for an angle so they can benefit or distract from their own cock ups.
So the SNP led Scottish Government is going to ask the navy, of the country it wants to break-away from, to provide it with a ferry stand-in. Hilarious.
I hope the RN us going to charge them the current going commercial rate – at a minimum.
What is it with the SNP and ferries? 😂🤣😂
It’ll be westminsters fault as well for them not being replaced, they’ll put a spin on it.
If it rains a in Scotland they blame Westminster for it… 🤷🏻♂️
Yes then they complain that England wants to steal the water 😀
It is a bit ironic. As for charging the MOD always recharges civilian authorities for military aid. It’s one of the reasons it’s rarely asked for…does hell with the budgets.
Another one that thinks the armed forces are English and English only.
No they’re not English, they’re British.
That’s the point, the SNP want to breakaway from Britain, not England.
Another one that can’t differentiate between Britain and England 🤦🏻♂️
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
Ian Blackford, the well known Anglophobe asks the nasty English for help? Well, I’ll be haggised! Help by all means for the peoples sake but😂
He asking the British for help, last time I checked England did not have a navy.
The point I was making as I’m sure you know is that he dislikes the country of which he is part and yet asks for it’s help.
He’s not asking England for help. That’s the point. He’s asking his own Navy for help. It’s Scotland’s Navy just as much as England’s. It’s this constant English short sightedness that makes some of us want to give up on the Union! The English that will destroy the UK, not the nationalists of the other three nations!!
“the English will destroy the UK” so now you’ve started with the anti English rhetoric which is why I was having a pop at Ian Blackford who has spent the last ten years having a go at the English in parliament.
Incidentally, I was born in Wales of Cornish parents with Irish and Danish family connections but I am British.🤔
I’m an Anglophile and have lived and worked and in England most of my life and still do. So I’m telling it like it is, I’m afraid. London-centrism is in danger of destroying English cohesion too. The rise of the alt right is utterly careless of nationhood and community, despite all the rhetoric. I’m pointing out the end of the Union and stating the causes.(Read Gavin Esler’s book “How Britain Ends” – a bit long but accurate) On the whole independence in the modern world is absolutely the wrong the way. But the reasons why are all there to be… Read more »
Interesting reply Wyn, to say the least. London-centrism is dangerous. To me and probably many others Westminster politicians suffer from the M25 syndrome, that is to say that once they are sat inside it they very often don’t know or want to know what’s going on in the rest of the country. I don’t know, though, that this is a cause of English nationalism or that there is rise in the alternative right in politics. To me, if anything, we have moved too far to the left. There may be a desire for regional administrative procedures to change but isn’t… Read more »
Thanks Geoff, I agree with your views. English nationalism is quite complex, I guess, depending on which part of the country and, dare I say, social background, you come from. The important thing in keeping the UK together is that big England – and yes of course, your’e right, it keeps the thing together – needs to be careful in not making the others feel patronised or ignored. But English regions have the same feelings towards London, of course! Welsh independence is a non starter (and I’m a Welsh speaking Welshman). Scotland would manage OK.. like Denmark – they’re the… Read more »
Hello Wyn, Just catching up…. I’m a fairly frequent visitor to France, particularly Brittany where I have French friends. Their view of the world is that they love Devon and Cornwall and the people but can’t stand Paris or Parisians. They don’t feel that they have anything in common so I guess every country has it’s. equivalents. Your right of course. Whilst England is the powerhouse each nation has to feel equal, for that matter each region, but how to achieve that. The partial answer and a personal one is that every person needs to feel wanted but on that… Read more »
Thanks Geoff, it’s good to have someone on this site who can make a sensibe argument! Not just because I agree, by the way! The comments on this site too often reveal a nostalgia for a past that never existed.. despite the insitence that people remeber living thorugh it.(The current favourite is nostalgia for the Herc…) It’s an interesting trick that humans have to reconfigure events 40 or 50 years on and see them as much better than they actually were. The 1960s saw the UK with a much bigger military – but just think how much of the equipement… Read more »
Hello Wyn…just back from my travels where rightly or wrongly I am internet free. My good lady wife and her ‘phone are as one but not me. When I’m relaxed I’m relaxed.😎 Anyway, good to hear from you. Your right about memory’s.I have to say I’m quite fond of the old Herky bird myself, but it’s the lack of capacity that concerns me more than the ‘plane itself. Only two years ago it was thought fit to stay into the 2030’s. Now it is apparently redundant. Politics and management raises it’s ugly head. Interesting comment about the past. I remember… Read more »
It’s been a while since i’ve heard logic like that. A bit like women in short skirts who are raped.
What you can’t seem to grasp is that at this point and for many decades Scotland has contributed to fund the MoD. The politics of the SNP is almost irrelevant here and your rhetoric only promotes division.
I think you must have read a different post.
Can I point out the Royal Navy is no more English than it is Scottish. It’s also Welsh and Northern Irish. So, of course they would ask. It’s as much theirs as anyones. It’s certainly not an English Navy with such major locations in Scotland!
Isn’t the Royal Navy the UK’s navy, not England’s or Scotland’s. In other words, the Union’s navy. You must find the Union a very desirable thing as you rely on it so much.
The salty dogs of Plymouth and Portsmouth fought off Spain and France pre Union. Agree all 3 services are British since the Union
The Union has served everyone well since the early 18th century. (Maybe not so much the Irish, who were barbarically treated by the English) But it has to be cared for and allowed to evolve. It won’t maintain itself, it needs conscious effort. Wales, Scotland and Ireland have all punched above their weight in contributing to the Union – for instance just think how many Prime Ministers have been Scottish – and of different parties.
Unfortunately you have just given an excuse to di ert attention from the real point which is the useless handling of the situation.
Now I’m confused. Diverted how. The whole question of Scotland’s ferries is a shambles, largely caused by the SNP.
You used the E word. I was also being facetious. Sorry for confusion.
Ah. Now I am understanding😉
Two weeks too late.
Life imitating fiction.
The Scottish goverment won’t pay £60m for a commercial replacement of a reasonable size. So they come to the MOD! Just as a sanity check for those saying Point class – Corran ferry: 160 DWT, – Point class: 14,000 DWT At 90 times the size, 192m long, 23,000 ton displacement, a Point is not your average Highlands car ferry and bigger than April Fool’s Bulwark. Even RFA Proteus is ten times the size of MV Corran. How about just buying a ROPAX off the shelf: https://commercial.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/commercial-vessels-ferry-for-sale/637177 This one is apparrently sat in the UK for sale at about £7.5m. It… Read more »
I have been on this ferry that they are trying to cover, it’s tiny and the journey is also tiny. If the MOD was getting involved and I doubt they are because you can’t just turn up and run a civilian ferry it would have to be be something more like an LCU Mk10. A point class would be way too big, you could almost end to end the vessels across the strait and use it as a temporary bridge.
I agree. It is very strange that they are so welded to the Fergusons disaster when they could easily buy a couple of decent second hand for a fraction of the cost and retire some of the very old junk that Cal Mac uses. It must cost a fortune in fuel and crewing never mind repairs to keep those old tubs going. I was asking on here a few months back why they hadn’t asked P&O for one of their smaller reserve ferries for the longer routes as they were short. Those are certified and runners Bonkers to ask MOD… Read more »
For a span of less than 300m, I’d also be pricing up bridges and tunnels, so I searched. Unsurprisingly that work has already been done. Options run between £40m and £110m. I can finally see where that £60m figure comes from.
you would get the montrousity bridge would spoil the enviroment crowd jumping up and down from their comfy urban appartments.
Perhaps, Just Perhaps at the Present Time, the SNP MP Might-be Sniffing-the-Coffee of Reality and having to concede the SNP Towels require washing in the Corran Narrows of Loch Linnhe ????
So I actually looked up the MV Corran and on seeing that it provides a 5 min service 8 miles south of Fort William and looking at the size of it, a couple of Landing Craft Utility Mk.10s would do the job (As well as offer a jolly for the Booties seeing as there is a pub at one end. (and FW up the road)
https://i.postimg.cc/KzGf2ZsC/Opera-Snapshot-2023-04-15-164102-www-google-com.png
I came to the same conclusion a couple LCU’s could easily provide the same lift capacity as this one vessel. Minus a passenger lounge, toilets or a sitting deck. I think they should just buy something off the shelf there must be a comparable vessel for sale somewhere that can be purchased and made ready in time.
LCU has a galley bunks and toilets…I know I spent a few nights on the bloody thing fixing Booty work arounds to keep the radios and Nav system working
This ferry looks very basic so why is it taking several weeks to fix? Maybe half that is the go?
If the Corran ferry is really the size of the vessel in the picture above than a couple of LCUs should easily be able to provide a comparable service.
It’s a bit foreshortened in the picture and can offcially carry up to 28 cars
This photo from the Daily Business gives a better idea.
https://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/MV-Corran.png
Whereas i would agree that an LCU would be nearer the size required, its not a RO-RO but more of a RE-RO (reverse in, roll off.) which may be a bit tricky. Is the service very busy??
Although in an emergency/disaster relief scenario the army would help out, how does this work in a purely civilian non-emergency setting..what about insurance…both for the MOD and the private vehicles that might use it?
AA
Actually the mk10 has a RO RO capability.
Thanks for that…I should have checked first!! still the issue of insurance and so on surely remains?
To be honest it’s rarely used as I think the Vikings are to wide to use the rear ramp. As for insurance I believe all military equipment is insured by the government itself. So any civilian vehicles damaged by military personnel would probably be reimbursed by the mod itself. Which would likely add it to its finishing bill. Although if insurance is an issue I suspect the LCU will be a lot more agreeable then the motor pontoons.
LCU have a door at each end. Drive on and drive off with ease.
Would be brilliant to do it with Mexeflote!
Problem with a Mexifloat is the angle of the ramp is fixed and prove problematic for most small cars, also there is no cover for the crew who would be exposed to the elements, finally with no safety wall, and the stupidity of some people, it would be an accident in the making. Saw this happen in the Falkland’s when a mexifloat carrying Haulamatics filled with aggregate from the quarry decided to go for a swim (all recovered within hours) and ended up at the bottom of the harbour. HQBFFI issued a order that : 1) Nobody allowed inside a vehicle if… Read more »
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
The vessel in the picture is the Corran ferry.
Call in the RE with their M3 rigs😂
These are the sort of issues they should be able to deal with on their own seeing as they don’t want anything to do with the UK.
Scott wrote:
Still part of the Uk and the Scottish are just as deserving as anybody else on these Isles when they require help that the Military can provide at short notice:
https://i.postimg.cc/BZ7Xr6xW/Opera-Snapshot-2023-04-15-190452-www-theguardian-com.png
Haven’t asked though, have they, and we all know why. So one needs a better example.
Cumbria aren’t trying to break up the UK though, are they?
Bog off.
How should part of the U.K. sort it out on there own? Does Scotland have its own MOD and defence assets?
I will help, no it doesn’t. It pays into the U.K. tax system and that funds the MOD.
By that way of thinking the France and the EU should say no to helping with the migrant boats.
Don’t need their own MoD to sort this out. Can’t even build two ferries.
What does your racism have to do with ferries?
What does my racism have to do with ferries? What does that mean?
Are u ok? Hitting the sauce a bit early?
Where is racism mentioned in my post?
Just get Ferguson Marine to build 4 new £50 million ferries shouldn’t take more than 25 years and only cost £2 billion + SNP donations.
Thought they wanted independence but soon as they need help we have to help them imagine joining royal navy and your first draft is being a ferry no wonder retention is bad haha
Who’s we? Is Scotland no part of the U.K.
the ferry service is for anyone needing to use it regardless of race, ethnicity or any other kind of discrimination
Ey
To be fair, it sounds like quite an interesting gig for your first draft. I’d be up for it.
Can’t believe the military are being taken for a taxi service, I thought it was supposed to be more difficult for local services to use military aid when their are clear private alternatives. This is a complete failure of the local government, the devolved government and probably now the mod who will likely allow it to be use with top pressure. They should charge for every hour used and fine them for wasting valuable resources up.
Its ok Ian uk has an entire fleet of Rubber boats they are willing to give you as you are such a nice person.
And It would seem that “I thought it was a Slash-And-Burn approach to Disposal-of the Migrant Boats, Although there Might-be Environmental Considerations to that particular approach (Atmospheric Carbon footprint, for example)”. So, Perhaps the MOD Might Just Provide Civilians’ Training in Paddling Ones’ Own Coracle (Migrants’ Rubber Boats, Surplus to Requirements Elsewhere Worldwide), After all Fort William and Loch Linnhe used to facilitate Diver Training in earlier decades of North Sea Oil (If one can detach from It’s Scotland’s Oil and SNP Mantra On policy). Perhaps Coracle/Ferry Replacement Training might catch on in the Royal Navy Training Manuals for Stone… Read more »
Scotland, ferries. Going to take a “few” weeks……they don’t have the best of records on the ferry front. I’d worry that an RN ship could be locked in to this for years 🙂
It sounds like a decent thing to do for the folks living on the island. Certainly a better use of tax payers money than some other things I could mention.
What do you think the chances are that the island ferry service could be transferred fulltime to the RN or more likely the RFA with a class of dual use vessels designed specifically for the task.https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2108/2325351604_1d822b5d44_b.jpg
Those who visited Holdfast Camp Belize should remember the hand cranked ferry at the bottom of the road:
https://i.postimg.cc/dQHCmn3K/img024.jpg
If this were the other way around… This is not fair as Scotland and the people there have every right in any help as any other part of this Country does, as in the rest of the UK. It is easy to play politics. Albion, Bays, or what ever ships etc… I don’t l like people being played for or against our Country’s union. Our union is confusing but any area of the UK should be and is equal.
A sensible post. What you say is completely correct and if things ever change with the United Kingdom that will be addressed at the time.
Just a pity that the Scottish government aren’t supporting the national ship building strategy whilst demanding the rest of the uk does.
although given the performance of Ferguson marine it’s hard to justify, I am sure these ferries could be built within the UK properly.
no problem with MOD and th despotic Westminster govt stepping in as the only people losing out are the residents of the islands and that isn’t on.
is it possible the SNP have a private “battle ferry” sitting somewhere that they don’t seem to know about?
Where did the Kyleakin/Kyle-of-Lochalsh Ferries (Plural) disappear to, When it would seem the Isle-of-Skye Bridge opened after I last travelled Onto/Off the-Misty-Isle in the Early 1990s??
By the way, It would seem that I was ferried across the Kylesku/Kylestrome stretch of water, Aboard the Maid of Glencoul during the Early 1980s, Quite a While Before the Kylesku Bridge was Built and Opened, As I was Cycle Touring and SYHA Hostelling around the North West Highlands with a Like-minded friend on the Nowadays NC500
At first I thought that’s an odd question, surely the ferries of thirty years ago are long since scrapped, but it seems not, as they were relatively new at the completion of the bridge. Loch Dunvegan operates in the Kyles of Bute, and the MV Loch Fyne runs the Mallaig-Armadale route in summer. So it’s very reasonable to ask where is the Loch Fyne right now if it’s not classed as summer yet. However the summer timetable started 31st of March so that’s where she’ll be, and apparently with no back up. Due to general delays in ferry overhauls, MV… Read more »
Should be a 2 word answer from the navy. The 2nd word being “off”.
I disagree. It’s “Please sign this blank cheque.” I admit, this is not an emergency. Cars can go north to Fort William and catch the ferry there. It looks like it’s a little over 25 miles on A-roads although not the best, so maybe 45 mins delay, possibly in both directions every day. That’s highly inconvenient, and if the military can help without degrading our defences, why shouldn’t they? And why shouldn’t they charge in full for the privilege? Think of it as a two month training exercise with a theme park twist. Throw a killer tomato over the side,… Read more »
Think they need to drive up to Kinlocheil, but I don’t think this makes the route “Crucial”, probably only saves 30-40 minutes…
Time to crack out the mexefloats…..
Why is this route “crucial”?
It isn’t to an island probably only saves half an hour, after waiting for the ferry…
Jumbo Gemini Time!
If this not a joke it should be…. how can the Scottish administration let this happen… wait a second I do know it is called the SNP… God help Scotland if it ever opts for independence under the SNP they will ruin the country.
If there’s a similar ferry for sale why doesn’t someone hirer that? Simple
Could always borrow the former HMS Ocean back from the Brazilians!
Western ferries from Dunoon to Gourock have about 6 ferries similar to this they use 4 and have 2 spare , surely Calmac could hire at least one of these for a couple of months
It has nothing to do with CalMac! The route in question is operated by the Highland Council.
Apologies when I read it I assumed it was a Calmac but the point all stands re Western ferries
These ferries aren’t run by Calmac they are run by the local Council, a bit like I understand the Sandbanks ferry at Poole is. And councils everywhere are seriously under the cosh.
I do wonder if the reason so many ferries are out of action is because all the dry docks are in use – think how long the Prince of Wales has been in Rosyth.
If the RN or RFA do help out, the vessels should be marked with enormous Union flags on both sides.
If you have ever been on this ferry it is a mad design, enterance and exit are at around 90 degrees to each other. Such a narrow crossing, should be a bridge there imo.
Wonder if there would be an article on here if the Isle of Wight needed to ask the RN for a bit of help, doubt it….wonder why. The other posts on here pretty much referring to RN only being available to England and not something all of the home nations could call on, if it were required, are really concerning.
“Wonder if there would be an article on here if the Isle of Wight needed to ask the RN for a bit of help, doubt it….wonder why.” If Wightlink had to come cap in hand to the MoD for help running their service, I guarantee George and the team at UKDJ would let us know with a story. “The other posts on here pretty much referring to RN only being available to England and not something all of the home nations could call on, if it were required, are really concerning.” While there are a few posts like that, I… Read more »
Tell Sturgeon to pay for it as she managed with her partner to live high on the hog off a failed political ambition.
Given the nationalists hatred of anything British, this must really have stung to go cap in hand to the MoD.
However the ferry Fiasco is a problem entirely if their own making and years in the making,