The Scottish islands that are being put at risk by an ongoing ferry crisis

The future of many of Scotland's island communities are being put at risk by the unreliable state of the country's ageing ferries, which have seriously impacted the ability of islanders to get to the mainland for medical care, and stopped essential supplies reaching islanders.  

Most of the islands in the west of Scotland rely on services from a state-owned company called Caledonian MacBrayne.

The average age of its ferry fleet is higher than 24 years, with many large boats even older than this. 

The ageing boats are developing more faults, which leads to delays and cancellations, an issue which has been compounded by delays and massive cost overruns in getting new ferries completed, in a process dogged by accusations of financial mismanagement and incompetence on the part of the Scotish government. 

As a result, ferries have been moved from one route to another to cover what are described as "lifeline" services. 

Most recently, there were protests after the South Uist to Mallaig service was withdrawn for almost an entire month, and in some cases local shops in island communities have had to ration basics like milk and bread. 

Angus Campbell of the Ferries Community Board, a group set up to ensure operators hear the views of people who use the services, tells Euronews that almost every route had been affected at one point, adding "wherever you start taking away capacity to fill a gap somewhere else you’re leaving a gap for service".

He said the state of the ferry services had threatened the future viability of the islands, because people had been questioning whether they should leave. 

"Everywhere you go you hear of people having to make decisions to leave islands because it could be that they don’t feel they have access to