Exclusive: World famous Waverley paddle steamer facing a bleak future

Jun 25 2009 By Frank Hurley

Waverley

OPERATORS of the Waverley paddle steamer say its summer income has been torpedoed because a Clyde Estuary pier remains closed.

The cash crisis is now threatening to sink the Waverley's future.

The steamer takes thousands of Glaswegians every summer to Largs Pier, boosting the Ayrshire town's economy.

But hundreds of passengers have cancelled because pier repairs won't be completed until late August - almost at the end of the Waverley's summer season.

A spokeswoman for the charity that runs the Waverley said: "If Largs Pier is not made available, this compounds the huge financial loss suffered by the charity in 2008. Largs is one of our busiest summer destinations. There is a real concern the Waverley will cease to serve the communities of the west coast of Scotland and the whole of the UK."

The charity expects to lose more than s200,000 in passenger fares because Largs is out of bounds.

Pier owners Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) say the s6million of reconstruction work won't be complete until the end of July, with machinery and engineers not off site until mid-August.

Waverley excursions chief Ian McMillan met with CMAL but no compromise deal could be brokered and no new talks are scheduled.

CMAL insist work was on schedule until contractor, George Leslie Ltd, uncovered rotten Victorian wooden sheet piles in the pier, built in 1845.

A CMAL spokesman said: "Waverley operators were offered alternative piers in the area so they could bus passengers into Largs but nothing has come of that.

"We had asked North Ayrshire Council if engineers could work around the clock to speed things up. This was refused on the grounds of night-time disturbance."

Largs councillor Alan Hill said: "Loss of passengers to the town is bound to have some adverse effect on tourism."