Another Scots ferry chief SACKED after islanders plagued by ship breakdowns and cancelled sailings

SCOTTISH ferry operator CalMac has sacked their chief executive due to “challenges” faced by islanders suffering from cancelled sailings.

Robbie Drummond is standing down with immediate effect, with Duncan Mackison – former boss of CalMac holding company David MacBrayne Ltd – taking over on an interim basis.

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The ferry company cited “challenges” over its service to island communities and said these are “likely set to continue until new vessels are introduced to the fleet over the coming years”.

It continues a shake-up amongst Scottish Government-owned ferry companies which started with the sacking of the boss of state-owned shipyard, David Tydeman.

He was sacked by the Ferguson’s board last week ahead of likely further delays to two ferries being built at the yard.

Those ships – the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa – are massively over budget and six years late and are due to join the CalMac fleet once finished.

A CalMac statement said there had been “real challenges” for islanders in recent years due to high levels of cancellations and breakdowns of an ageing fleet.

They added: “These challenges are likely set to continue until new vessels are introduced to the fleet over the coming years.

“In this context, the board wants to strengthen the focus further on operational performance of an ageing fleet, resilience and enhanced dialogue and responsiveness with the customers and the communities CalMac serves.”

It continued: “As a consequence, the board has reviewed the executive leadership of the organisation to ensure that it is best placed to achieve that during some challenging years ahead.

“As part of that review, current CEO Robbie Drummond is stepping down with immediate effect.”

Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP said: “Robbie Drummond is now the latest scapegoat for the SNP’s ferries fiasco.

“Mairi McAllan – as the SNP minister responsible – is presiding over utter chaos in Scotland’s ferry network.

“Not a single ministerial resignation has been offered over this scandal yet now the head of both CalMac and Ferguson Marine have been fired in the space of two weeks.

“The minister needs to urgently explain – not least to betrayed islanders – what is going on here and why she believes sacking CalMac’s top boss is a good idea.

“The buck ultimately stops with them over the failure to deliver lifeline vessels to our islanders.”