Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2020

9 6 INTERV IEW S ince the Covid-19 lockdown began in the UK in March, Scottish lifeline operator Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) has faced a particular challenge of trying to protect vulnerable island communities from infection, while meeting the need to ensure fragile island economies continue to function. CalMac reacted quickly, reducing its timetable to an essential lifeline service, operating at less than 30 per cent of the normal winter timetable. What then followed for the company, the UK’s largest ferry operator, was a reduction in passenger demand to four per cent of normal traffic volume, motor vehicles to nine per cent and commercial traffic to 45 per cent. “Our islands rely on our lifeline services for every aspect of their day-to-day lives,” explains Robbie Drummond, managing director of CalMac Ferries. “Services that could not be delivered without our staff working tirelessly on the frontline throughout this crisis.” Uniquely, the vast majority of people that work for CalMac live on islands on the network, so they share the same fears and concerns and worries as anyone else who lives there. Only people who really needed to travel were allowed to board, such as emergency, NHS and utilities workers, along with those responsible for food and fuel deliveries. “We very quickly moved to an essential lifeline timetable to try and balance the protection of people’s health while continuing to support local economies,” says Drummond. “We moved to card-only transactions and we issued prompt online refunds to all passengers affected. “Everyone has pulled together to ensure life continued as normally as possible while keeping everyone safe” Robbie Drummond Maintaining lifeline services Robbie Drummond tells Justin Merrigan about CalMac’s Covid-19 response and how it has continued to provide vital services to the island communities on Scotland’s west coast