Vessels and ports - Prioritisation

Issue

There was substantial agreement with the approach proposed in the Vessels and Ports Plan for how to prioritise investment in the CHFS and NIFS networks. Concerns were raised (as above) about the focus on reliability and resilience over other priorities, such as vehicle-deck capacity, and also with the prioritisation of services for “vulnerable” over “successful” islands. A majority of respondents were against ranking the 3 factors.

Response

Given the high-level of support, the use of the 3 factors to inform TS prioritisation decisions for investment in CHFS and NIFS vessels and ports will be confirmed in the final version of the Vessels and Ports Plan. These 3 factors will not be ranked, which is consistent with the view of the majority of respondents. Although the factor of “communities identified as at greater risk of depopulation and economic decline” will be retained, we recognise the concern at what this could mean for vessel and port projects serving growing islands and can confirm that these projects will continue to be developed and reported on. The Vessels and Ports Plan will also retain its emphasis on planning ahead to replace vessel and port assets as they approach asset life expiry, retaining the aim of achieving a fleet average age of 15 by the end of this decade.

The importance of vehicle-deck capacity, including for freight, is covered below and will be reiterated in the final ICP documents.