Latest news with #MVGlenSannox
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Turkey ferry NV Isle of Islay on track to be delivered by October
It has been confirmed that the second of successful sea trials means that MV Isle of Islay - one of the first of the four ferries being built in Turkey in the wake of Scotland's ferry fiasco - is on target to be delivered sometime by October. State-owned ferry procurer Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) confirmed that MV Isle of Islay remans scheduled to be delivered by October - meaning in theory it could be available for the summer timetable which ends on October 19. That means that the ferry will have taken just less than three years to be complete, with work starting in October, 2022. Meanwhile, the delivery of MV Glen Rosa - the second of Scotland's two ferry fiasco vessels, is running eight years late. The latest in a long series of rescheduled delivery dates for the ship shows that it is due online sometime between April and June - next year. That's over ten years after the first steel was cut on the Ferguson Marine vessel. Glen Rosa and sister ship MV Glen Sannox were due online in the first half of 2018 when Ferguson Marine was under the control of tycoon Jim McColl, with both now due to serve Arran. The last estimates suggest the costs of delivery could more than five-fold from the original £97m cost. A second set of sea trials for MV Isle of Islay have now been carried out by the Turkish shipyard Cemre Marin Endustri in Yalova, Turkey. MV Glen Rosa (Image: George Munro) The trials took place in the Sea of Marmara from Wednesday, July 16 to Sunday, July 20 and were attended by staff from CMAL and CalMac Included in the trials were the set-up and testing of the battery energy storage system (BESS), as well as the testing and optimisation of the power management system (PMS) and energy management system (EMS). The vessel has returned to the Cemre Marin Endustri quayside, where she is undergoing further outfitting work with CMAL saying the vessel remains scheduled to be delivered in the third quarter of this year. It comes as it was confirmed that Ferguson Marine was "mitigating risks" over delivery of MV Glen Rosa while it is not expected to be ready for the start of the crucial summer timetable - next year. Ferguson Marine, the nationalised Inverclyde shipyard firm at the centre of the fiasco, has Glen Rosa would be ready for passengers in the second quarter of 2026 - between April and June. Read more from Martin Williams: But the summer timetable for tourists and islanders alike is usually valid from the end of March. A ferry user group official said: "It is fantastic to hear that one of many crucial lifeline ferries is finally going to be delivered after a lack of investment. "We can but hope that the remaining issues with MV Glen Rosa can be ironed out sooner rather than later and hopefully bring to an end a dark chapter in the delivery of lifeline island services. The fact Turkey is deliver a ferry so quickly against the record of Ferguson Marine is an indictment on ferry procurement in Scotland and we can only hope that things can only get better." CalMac ferry (Image: .) Islay is being built to hold 450 passengers and 107 cars, while Glen Rosa is designed for up to 852 passengers and 127 cars. Jim Anderson, director of vessels at CMAL, said: 'The successful testing of the hybrid system [of MV Isle of Islay] marks a significant step forward in completing this new vessel for Islay and Jura. 'The team at Cemre have made good progress in the build programme for the vessel, and we continue to work closely with the shipyard as we move into the final stages of the build.' MV Isle of Islay is the first of four ferries being built at the Turkish yard, and marks what Sottish Government-owned ferry owner and procurer Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) says is a "major milestone in its commitment to delivering new ferries to serve the Scottish islands". MV Isle of Islay and sister ship MV Loch Indaal are being both being constructed for CalMac's Islay service. Construction of the vessels got officially underway in October, 2022 after the £105m contract was controversially given to the Turkish shipyard. CMAL has said that the new 310-foot vehicle passenger ferries will provide a combined 40% increase in vehicle and freight capacity on the Islay routes and "improving the overall resilience" of the wider fleet. Past testing of Islay evaluated the vessel's performance at full load, including speed, stability, manoeuvrability, anchor deployment/recovery and endurance. The trials also established the effectiveness of the vessel's propulsion plant, automation and navigational systems.
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Ferry fiasco vessel hits the water for the first time
MV Glen Rosa was pulled by the tugboat CMS Wrestler. The dual-fuel ferry is being built for Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) to serve the Arran route for Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac). Port Glasgow firm [[Ferguson Marine]] announced last month that the second of the controversial ferries was on track to be delivered to [[CalMac]] next year. (Image: George Munro) MV Glen Rosa recently had funnel tops installed before moving to the dry dock. Contractors have also been on site at Ferguson's carrying out preliminary works for the ferry's mezzanine deck wire installation next month. The Ferguson CEO Graeme Thomson recently updated the Scottish Parliament's Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. He informed the committee that MV Glen Rosa was heading for the dry dock as part of the final stages of construction. READ MORE: Members of the committee are set to visit Ferguson Marine in the future to see the progress of MV Glen Rosa for themselves. The first of the new ferries MV Glen Sannox officially began taking passengers in January this year. Due to ongoing investigations with MV Caledonian Isles, [[CalMac]] previously announced there is no scheduled service to Arran operating from Ardrossan and Brodick between July 25 and September 7 . MV Glen Sannox and MV Alfred will operate Troon-Brodick until Sunday, September 7.
STV News
06-07-2025
- Politics
- STV News
More than 10,000 ferry sailings cancelled due to faults
More than 10,000 CalMac ferry sailings have been cancelled due to technical faults since 2023, the Scottish Lib Dems have said. Freedom of information data obtained by the party showed 10,809 sailings were cancelled for this reason between the start of January 2023 and the end of April this year. CalMac's ageing fleet of ferries has been plagued with maintenance issues in recent years, though it is hoped the arrival of new vessels such as the Glen Sannox, which joined the fleet in January, will alleviate the problem. Lib Dem MSP Jamie Greene said: 'These figures reveal just how much chaos the SNP are causing island communities. 'Our island communities are being treated as second-class citizens, lacking the basic right to access the same public services as mainland Scots. 'The SNP's failure to deliver new lifeline ferries has anchored islanders with an aging fleet that is in constant need of repair, at constant risk of cancellation and costing millions in repair bills. 'My constituents on the west coast are suffering the depressing reality of losing business, missing events and hospital appointments and, frankly, they have lost faith in the Scottish Government's ability to fix those problems.' CalMac said it is common for some sailings to be diverted to other ports due to weather or sea conditions. The ferry operator said that on 294 days out of the time period, it operated more than the number of scheduled sailings. A CalMac spokeswoman said: 'The figures clearly show that CalMac operated more than 95% of all planned sailings since 2023. 'In a typical day, we operate over 450 sailings and our staff work hard to provide a good service in challenging circumstances. In fact, poor weather remains the most common cause of disruption. 'In terms of technical problems, these do happen with an aging fleet and in increasingly challenging weather. 'However, the arrival of 13 new vessels by 2029, which started with MV Glen Sannox in January this year, will reduce these and modern vessels will improve the reliability and resilience of services across the whole network.' A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: 'Between January 1, 2023 and April 30 2025, over 95% of the 391,139 scheduled sailings operated. 'We are investing in six, new, major vessels to serve Scotland's ferry network from early 2025, alleviating the need for extensive repairs on older vessels and improving reliability. 'Contracts have also been signed for a further seven, new, smaller vessels to serve the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network. 'CalMac are delivering services in increasingly challenging weather and the arrival of 13 new vessels by 2029, which started with MV Glen Sannox in January this year, will reduce technical issues and these modern vessels should also be able to operate in more challenging weather and sea conditions. 'To improve service in the short term, we have also purchased the MV Loch Frisa and chartered the MV Alfred. We continue to work with operators and CMAL to improve resilience across our networks.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Herald Scotland
06-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Almost 11,000 CalMac ferry crossings cancelled due to technical faults
A freedom of information request submitted by the Lib Dems found that a total of 10,809 sailings were cancelled due to technical faults with ferries between 1 January 2023 and 30 April 2025. This resulted in ferries being cancelled on 548 days out of 851 in that period. Out of the whole CalMac fleet in Scotland, there are approximately 450 sailings a day. The figures come as the ferry network has suffered years of disruption, with an ageing fleet and delays in the delivery of new vessels repeatedly affecting services. READ MORE: Did the government forget to 'island-proof' the ferry fund? Ferry service to resume between Ardrossan and Arran £4.4m ferry fiasco fund branded 'exclusionary' by islanders Scottish Government accused of undermining Ardrossan harbour Commenting on the latest figures, Mr Greene, the party's transport spokesperson, said: 'These figures reveal just how much chaos the SNP are causing island communities. 'Our island communities are being treated as second class citizens, lacking the basic right to access the same public services as mainland Scots. 'The SNP's failure to deliver new lifeline ferries has anchored islanders with an ageing fleet that is in constant need of repair, at constant risk of cancellation and costing millions in repair bills. 'My constituents on the west coast are suffering the depressing reality of losing business, missing events and hospital appointments and, frankly, they have lost faith in the Scottish Government's ability to fix those problems. 'Scottish Liberal Democrats would get the basics right and stand up for island communities. That starts by making sure islanders have access to the ferries they need and rebuilding our country's rural and island economic reputation, which has been sorely undermined by the SNP.' CalMac has said they continue to see high levels of planned sailings go ahead as they pointed to an ageing ferry fleet and increasingly challenging weather creating technical problems. A CalMac spokeswoman said: 'The figures clearly show that CalMac operated more than 95% of all planned sailings since 2023. In a typical day we operate over 450 sailings and our staff work hard to provide a good service in challenging circumstances. In fact, poor weather remains the most common cause of disruption. 'In terms of technical problems, these do happen with an aging fleet and in increasingly challenging weather. However, the arrival of 13 new vessels by 2029, which started with MV Glen Sannox in January this year, will reduce these and modern vessels will improve the reliability and resilience of services across the whole network." Transport Scotland has said it intends to invest over £530m in the coming year improve their service networks on the west coast and northern isles. A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: 'We are investing in six new major vessels to serve Scotland's ferry network from early 2025, alleviating the need for extensive repairs on older vessels and improving reliability. Contracts have also been signed for a further seven new smaller vessels to serve the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network. 'CalMac are delivering services in increasingly challenging weather and the arrival of 13 new vessels by 2029, which started with MV Glen Sannox in January this year, will reduce technical issues and these modern vessels should also be able to operate in more challenging weather and sea conditions. 'To improve service in the short term, we have also purchased the MV Loch Frisa and chartered the MV Alfred. We continue to work with operators and CMAL to improve resilience across our networks.' Campaigners have recently criticised a new £4.4 million support fund for island businesses affected by ferry disruption, warning it excludes many of the communities worst hit by the ongoing "shambles".
The Herald Scotland
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
We are CMAL shareholders. We should be told the truth about Ardrossan
It might appear to some that Peel Ports is a property developer with no interest in operating Ardrossan as a port for Brodick. Where was Peel Ports when it could have repaired the Irish berth? Why is it not kicking and screaming at CMAL using Troon? Could it possibly suit Peel Ports for the ferry operation to move to Troon? And as Troon becomes the port for Brodick, the increased distance will require an increase in the Road Equivalent Tariff to satisfy the increased journey length and a third ferry, heaven forbid, will be required to supply the same level of service from Troon. The proposed 42-year-old MV Isle of Arran sailing from Ardrossan over the Glasgow Fair will allow more sailing capacity than the MV Glen Sannox sailing from Troon. Kevin Hobbs, the chief executive of CMAL, says: "We do not believe and have expressly stated that resilience at Ardrossan (given the entrance through the roundheads and turn) will never be as resilient as Troon given the open sea approach." He forgets that a smaller, highly-manoeuvrable ferry on Troon berthing trials became pinned against the harbour wall, requiring a tug to pull her off. As a professional seaman I can assure you that the entrance to Troon is a lot more exposed than Ardrossan. If you want evidence of this please look up service cancellations by the MV Glen Sannox which even the devil incarnate catamaran MV Alfred beats. Ardrossan is more than adequate when the correct vessels are used; four are coming from Turkey soon. Brian Wilson refers to the 95% redaction in his FoI reply citing the catch-all grounds that "the balance of public interest lies in withholding the information". The sole shareholders of CMAL are the Scottish Government ministers elected by us to represent them; that means it is ultimately the public who are the shareholders and we need to know. Peter Wright, West Kilbride. We are all in trouble Ferguson Marine is still in trouble despite £500m of public money having gone in. Now a committee of MSPs has cast doubt upon its future without further investment ('Ferguson Marine needs 'urgent investment', warns committee', The Herald, July 4). £14.2m extra has already been promised by the SNP, although it is unclear as to whether this money has been received. The MV Glen Rosa is the only work on the books and is due to be delivered around the time of the 2026 Holyrood election. This will focus attention upon the financial record of the SNP after 19 years of rule. Has it been good value for money or a bottomless pit for taxpayers who are constantly asked for "just a little bit" more? The broad shoulders are sagging very badly. It is not just Ferguson Marine that is in trouble, it is the entire country. Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow. Read more letters Dangerous definitions Murdo Grant (Letters, July 4) highlights how politicians cynically use the word 'terrorist' to condemn people with whom they disagree and to justify their own illegal acts of extreme violence. A classic example was provided by Margaret Thatcher, who in 1987 described South Africa's African National Congress as a 'typical terrorist organisation'. She was referring to the fact that the ANC had established an arms-length group called Umkhonto ke Sizwe, Spear of the Nation, MK for short; this followed the Sharpeville massacre of 1960. MK's task was to carry out a campaign of sabotage against the oppressive apartheid state that had inflicted so much violence on non-white South Africans. The campaign was directed at infrastructure, not people, though there was clearly a risk when explosives were being used that people could be injured or killed. The first head of MK was Nelson Mandela, who had reluctantly accepted that decades of struggle and sacrifice had failed to impact the white regime. As he said at his trial in Rivonia in 1963: 'It would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our demands with force.' Mrs Thatcher's Tories opposed sanctions against South Africa, to their eternal shame. Fast forward 20 years and Tory leader David Cameron apologised in person to Mr Mandela for 'mistakes my party made in the past'. As the saying goes: one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, and the label should be used with care. Which is why I'm alarmed by this week's vote at Westminster, by a majority of 359, to proscribe as a terrorist group Palestine Action, which vandalised two RAF transport aircraft at Brize Norton on June 20 ('MPs back move to ban action group', The Herald, July 3). The damage to the aircraft was minimal, though it has of course been inflated for political purposes. And you could argue that Palestine Action has done the country a favour by highlighting just how lamentable is security at our military establishments; I'm sure Mr Putin will have noticed. With the threshold for 'terrorism' now being so low, I guess I should expect a snatch squad to appear on my doorstep in dead of night if this letter is published. How very 1984, and from a Labour government. Doug Maughan, Dunblane. Drawbacks of foreign input I'm grateful to Jackie Kemp (Letters, July 4) for taking the time to read my letter of July 2. But I fear she has entirely missed the point. I mention neither 'Scottish independence' nor 'EU membership'. My point was apolitical and focused on the dangers of over-dependence on inward investment and outside decision-making. Our experience of the past shows that high dependence on inward investment can be like riding a powerful bucking bronco. The ride can be exhilarating, but only while it lasts. The end can be sudden and painful. Remember Silicon Glen? It was built up largely on the back of inward investment over three decades-plus, when Scotland was part of the EU. This involved leading corporates (many from the US) including IBM, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, DEC, Compaq, Sun Microsystems, National Semiconductor, Burr Brown, NEC, Sony and more. Where are they now? Sadly, 'no more' (cue the Proclaimers). Most were branch plants with no deep roots in Scottish soil. And most had left by the turn of the century when Scotland was still in the EU. When conditions change multinationals adapt. They restructure, downsize, or move away. And they do that 'irrespective of the national regulatory regime they're in'. That's the point. (PS And for the record, the EU market is not an insurance policy protecting all inward investment in Ireland. One of the largest investors – Pfizer in Cork – exports 80% of its product to the US, not Europe, and is therefore vulnerable to Trump tariffs.) Ewen Peters, Newton Mearns. • In Jackie Kemp's plea for an independent Scotland to join the EU (Letters, July 4), she stresses the potential trade benefits. Yet these can be obtained by joining EFTA/EEA (as advocated by Alba), without the need for the substantial annual net contributions to the EU which accession would entail. George Morton, Rosyth. Nelson Mandela with the late Queen Elizabeth: he was branded a terrorist by Margaret Thatcher (Image: PA) Send migrants to Dartmoor Sir Keir Starmer has said that he deeply regrets claiming that the UK risked becoming an "island of strangers". Why? Twenty thousand unwelcome strangers have crossed the Channel this year. Does Sir Keir not realise that these people will never contribute to our economy? We pay the French half a billion pounds to wave the boats off from Calais. There are over 32,000 asylum seekers in UK hotels at a cost of £1.3 billion a year. There are 19,244 foreign offenders awaiting deportation. Add on the cost of priority NHS treatment and the £40,000 a year for each of the 10,355 foreign offenders in jail. Asylum seekers (and everyone claims to be one) get £49.18 a week whilst their asylum claims are being processed. We should stop pandering to the pro-immigrant charities and migrant legal aid lawyers and put these pseudo asylum seekers in tents on Dartmoor guarded by the armed forces until their asylum claims have been determined. The UK needs to deter illegal immigration before we do become an "island of strangers". Clark Cross, Linlithgow. The end of empathy I recommend everyone reads Rebecca McQuillan's article (Now Donald Trump turns to alligators to terrorise migrants, ("Now Donald Trump turns to alligators to terrorise migrants", heraldscotland, July 3). This is where MAGA brainwashing leads to, and is brilliantly expressed by Ms McQuillan in her final paragraph: "Mirthless jokes about vulnerable othered minorities trying to escape man-eating animals. This is what happens when empathy dies." Willie Towers, Alford. Time to ditch green dreams On June 13, 2025, the UK Government announced a £500 million investment, paid for by UK taxpayers, to accelerate the development of the UK's first regional hydrogen transport and storage network. (Thankfully, most likely in the industrial heartlands of the UK – although the Scottish Government has similar ideas). One of the objectives of this funding is to complement the £2 billion which has already been invested by the Government to incentivise production of green hydrogen in the first hydrogen production allocation round contract (HAR1). This is like the incredibly lucrative 15-year initial Contracts for Difference (CfDs) awarded to to wind farm developers. This will mean new gas pipes being installed as well as new hydrogen storage depots. And that is on top of the desecration now being caused by the grid expansion to give us all more "green electricity". All this taxpayer money will be going to commercial companies to hasten our journey to net zero and a low-carbon economy. When such a fuss is being made over the £6 billion that might have been saved from welfare reforms, why is there no scrutiny of where our money is going to meet this net zero ideology? So were proposed winter fuel cuts and welfare cuts (both now watered down) supposed to fund the net zero ambitions? Perhaps its time for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to question the sanity of Energy Minister Graham Stuart and use common sense to ditch the green dreams and balance the budget. Graham Lang, Chairman, Scotland Against Spin, Ceres, Fife. Accentuate the positive I was disappointed in your choice of front page headline: 'More than £1.4 million spent on cleaning up sewage spills" (The Herald, July 4). This is a fact, but why not emphasise the good news? Sewage spills costs have reduced by 75 per cent in two years, from £540k in 2022 to £136k in 2024. This might be a reflection that most wet wipes are now paper-based. Eric Macdonald, Paisley. Discontent over attribution Lord David Lipsey coined the phrase "winter of discontent" ("Labour peer who coined 'winter of discontent' phrase found dead after swim", The Herald, July 4)? Very strange: I always thought the author of that phrase was William Shakespeare, in the opening line of Richard III. Derrick McClure, Aberdeen.
