21st century
In 2006, the Scottish Executive decided that under EU rules ferry services were required to be put out to tender. This presented an issue, as the vessels required to operate the services and many of the ports to which services ran were owned by Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd., giving it an unfair advantage over potential competitors.
The solution was to rename Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd. as Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd. (CMAL) so that vessels and ports would be retained in state ownership, while a separate ferry operations company, CalMac Ferries Ltd. (CFL), was created. CFL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne Ltd., which is wholly owned by Scottish Ministers. CMAL also retained ownership of the Caledonian MacBrayne brand, which CFL uses as a trading name under licence from CMAL. The lion rampant device is also used by CFL with the permission of CMAL.
In 2007, the contract to provide services under the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) was awarded to CFL for six years. CMAL leases the vessels and piers to the operator of the CHFS (currently CFL) and is also responsible for the procurement of new ships and the maintenance and development of port facilities in its ownership. Some ports are owned by local authorities or private harbour trusts/authorities.
In 2013, Transport Scotland, which is part of Scottish Government, extended the CHFS contract by a further three years, to be put out to tender for a new contract to commence in October 2016. In May 2016, it was confirmed that the bid submitted by CFL had been successful and a six-year contract – with the option of a two-year extension – was awarded by Transport Scotland.
In December 2017, Transport Scotland published an interim report into its Ferry Services Procurement Policy Review and Mr Yousaf MSP made a statement to Parliament advising that it was the Government's desire not to put the next CHFS contract out to tender in 2024. It believed that, with some minor changes to the constitution of David MacBrayne Ltd., the contract could be awarded directly to an in-house provider, such as CFL, if it was compliant with the Teckal Exemption and EU state aid rules.
In November 2023, Minister for Transport Fiona Hyslop made a statement about the future of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) contract, confirming the intention to explore a direct award to CalMac for the next CHFS contract.