Latest news with #ferry
Times
11 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Ferguson chief says shipyard needs ferry contract with no competition
The Ferguson shipyard faces a 'very difficult' future unless ministers hand it a ferry replacement contract, the chief executive has warned. Graeme Thomson said he had already lobbied for the Inverclyde yard to be given the mandate to build the successor to MV Lord of the Isles. That vessel normally sails from Lochboisdale on South Uist to the mainland at Mallaig. Fiona Hyslop, the transport secretary, said in April that money was available for a replacement to be built with CMAL, the procurement agency, looking at designs. The yard has been in public hands since 2019 after it ran out of cash building the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa ferries. Holyrood ministers decided in March this year that they could not legally find a way to directly award Ferguson the work to build seven electric ferries for the small vessels replacement programme and that went to the Polish yard Remontowa. Thomson, who started at Ferguson in May, told the Scottish affairs committee at Westminster that the state-owned yard could not compete on price with overseas rivals. A direct award would mean Ferguson being given the contract without it having to go through procurement. Thomson said he had 'lobbied for a direct award' and believed the Scottish government was considering whether it was possible. He said: 'I'm not aware of what might be challenges or blockers to that.' Asked by MPs what the future might hold if the yard did not win that contract, he said: 'It would be very difficult for us and very challenging.' Thomson argued there was a need to give UK yards a better chance to win domestic work with about 150 non-navy vessels due to be built over the next 30 years. He said: 'As long as there is a situation that international yards can do it cheaper than us, whether because of labour rates or tax breaks, then we will never be playing on a level playing field. We need to move the conversation away from a race to the bottom on price.' Ferguson recently won a contract from BAE Systems to build structural steel blocks for HMS Birmingham as part of the Type 26 programme. Thomson is hopeful that the scope of work could be expanded in the future, while it is also looking into bids to build pilot boats and tugs. He said: 'If the portfolio starts with smaller boats, then we get back into larger boats, then I'm very content we would protect as much of the workforce as we can.' Thomson told MPs he was confident that Glen Rosa, which is already seven years late and vastly over budget, would be ready for handover in the second quarter of next year. Separately, Shona Robison, the finance secretary, said that the Scottish government continued to talk with bus operators and transport authorities to establish demand levels for double-decker buses as part of its efforts to find a future for Alexander Dennis. The bus builder is proposing to shut its Scottish manufacturing division, with 400 jobs at risk across Falkirk and Larbert.
CBC
13 hours ago
- CBC
Passengers stuck on N.S.-P.E.I. ferry for hours due to technical problem with newest vessel
Northumberland Ferries Ltd. cancelled two crossings between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia on Wednesday due to a problem with the company's newest vessel. On its website, NFL said an "ongoing technical issue" with MV Northumberland led to the cancellation of the 5 p.m. departure from Caribou, N.S., and the 6:30 p.m. crossing leaving Wood Islands, P.E.I. Jeff Joyce, the general manager of Northumberland Ferries, told CBC News that one of four metal pins that secure the ferry's bow visor — the large door that raises to let vehicles drive on and off the ship — would not release as the vessel arrived in Caribou around midday Wednesday. Crews tried unsuccessfully to unlock the door, but ultimately had to move the Northumberland out of the way so that the company's other ferry, MV Confederation, could dock and drop off its load of passengers. Service will resume Thursday, says NFL The Northumberland left P.E.I. bound for Nova Scotia at 11:45 a.m. and was due to unload in Caribou about 75 minutes after leaving the Island, or 1 p.m. As of 4:30 p.m., Northumberland's passengers were still onboard, with posts on social media saying they were being offered free food and drinks as the ship headed back to Wood Islands. Joyce said the ship would have to turn around to unload its complement of cars and trucks through the operational bow visor at the other end, meaning at least some passengers would have to reverse out of the ferry. Just before 5 p.m., he confirmed the ferry had docked in P.E.I. and unloading was underway. Joyce said MV Northumberland will be in service on Thursday. He said it can operate with three of the four metal pins, along with one temporary pin.
BBC News
16 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Ferry nameplate makes final voyage home to Selby
The nameplate of one of Scotland's longest serving ferries has been returned to Selby, where it was built more than 40 years ago.A special service was held at Selby Cathedral to welcome home the small fragment of the former MV Hebridean ceremony was attended by some of those who helped build the vessel as well as workers from Scottish ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne, who delivered the the congregation was Phil Moat, who said: "It's been great to see everyone again - and to see shipbuilding getting some recognition in a beautiful place like this." Built by Cochrane Shipbuilers, in Selby, at a cost of £5.5m the ship was launched sideways into the River Ouse in the next four decades the 280ft (85m) ferry made journeys between islands such as Skye, Colonsay and Islay in north-west Scotland, before being withdrawn from service in among the crowd at today's ceremony was Jim Anderson, who said: "We are ex-shipbuilders. We get the togetherness of a shipyard, and why people are still so proud of a 40-year-old ship. That's why it was important to be here." The Duchess of Kent was in charge of the formalities at the launch, but it was the but it was the technique used to launch the vessel that has stuck long in peoples' had to get underneath the hull, hammer away wooden blocks holding the ship in place, then run for cover as it slid towards the McMillan, known as Mac, said: "The dramatic thing was when you saw people on the opposite bank being hit by the wash from the river."The emergency services were shouting 'get back, get back'. People would line up in big crowds - bring all their children - because they'd never seen anything like that."Paul Welch was one of the workers tasked with hammering away the said: "You've always got one eye on the ship moving. As soon as it moves, you duck and run. "All launches were special - this was one of many launches the shipyard did over the years. "Shipbuilding always was important, but today matters because there are so few of us left. We are a dwindling band." Stephen Mackenzie started at Cochrane's as an apprentice joiner in 1971 - his father and brother worked there as well - and stayed with the firm for 17 said: "This has been a long time coming. Shipbuilding has been going on here for years and years and we didn't get the recognition. I'm very pleased - shipbuilding is what makes Selby." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
20 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Ferguson shipyard boss calls for direct award of new ferry
The new boss of Ferguson Marine has called for a new CalMac ferry order to be directly awarded to the state-owned shipyard to secure its Thomson said the replacement for MV Lord of the Isles was a target contract for the Port Glasgow yard which has no ship orders once MV Glen Rosa is completed next direct award is not possible, he told a committee of MPs that "social value" should be included in the assessment of bids in order to create a "level playing field" with overseas rivals. He said it would be "very difficult" and "very challenging" to sustain the current workforce unless the yard secures the new order. The Port Glasgow shipyard recently signed a deal for subcontracting work building units for the frigate HMS Birmingham under construction by BAE Systems in Glasgow, but the new work is not in itself enough to guarantee the yard's future. He said it was actively pursuing a number of opportunities, but singled out the planned replacement for MV Lord of the Isles, an 84m (276ft) CalMac ferry built by Ferguson's 35 years ago, which normally serves South Uist. The Scottish government has said it has earmarked funding for the contract, but ferries agency CMAL is awaiting the go-ahead to begin the procurement. The Ferguson shipyard, which employs about 300 people, suffered a major blow earlier this year when an important order for seven small electric ferries for CalMac, worth £160m, went to the Polish firm Remontowa. Mr Thomson said he had been told by CMAL the Ferguson bid did well in the technical evaluation but could not match the overseas yard on price. He told the committee: "We're OK with competition as long as we're playing on a level playing field."As long as a situation prevails where international yards can do it cheaper than us because of the tax breaks, the labour rates, whatever, then we'll never be playing on a level playing field." 'Race to the bottom' Earlier an industry body told the committee that overseas yards enjoyed more state support and cheaper labour costs, often able to undercut UK yards by 10-20%. The UK's refreshed national shipbuilding strategy has called for a minimum 10% social value element in public tenders to offset that. But CMAL, which is owned by the Scottish government, has said it did not include social value in the scoring for the small vessels contract because it was worried about a possible legal challenge. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes had earlier ruled out a direct award of that contract, also citing legal risks. Mr Thomson said public procurement needed to "move away from a race to the bottom in terms of price" to a model that recognised the economic and social benefits of building ships in the UK. "We are lobbying for a shift in emphasis on UK local content and even whether we can get direct award," he said. Mr Thomson, who took up his post in May, accepted that huge overspends and delays with two dual-fuel LNG CalMac ships had harmed the yard's reputation. He said it now needed to "demonstrate delivery" to restore confidence, and once a new order was secured it would draw down £14.2m of new investment promised by Scottish ministers. Some of the planned equipment could reduce the labour time required for steelwork by 30-40%, he said, and would make the yard more competitive. He described the two overbudget ships MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa as prototypes whose problems had arisen from a "bespoke set of circumstances". These included poor planning and an ill-advised "rush to get busy" before there was a mature design in place, he said. Why was Glen Sannox so hard to build? But he said the skills of the Ferguson workforce were no different from other more successful yards such as Babcock, where he previously worked, and BAE Systems. He said he saw the yard's future in building ships between 60 and 80m in length, much smaller than dual fuel ships which are 102.5m (335ft) shipyard could at the same time build smaller vessels, supplemented by subcontracting work on military ships, he added. What other orders could Ferguson Marine bid for? Aside from the MV Lord of the Isles replacement there are several publicly-funded ship procurements in the pipeline which could potentially provide much-needed work for the Ferguson shipyard: Phase two of the Small Vessels Replacement Programme will see ferries agency CMAL order three more small electric CalMac Scottish government has just confirmed it is looking to replace the fisheries protection vessel Minna, and the fishing research vessel Scotia - both previously built by Ferguson's - although no timetable has been UK Border Force is looking to replace 11 small vessels, and the UK government has promised they will be built in the UK. The Ferguson management believes demand for windfarm support ships or lighthouse board vessels could also provide opportunities. Prior to the ferries controversy, Ferguson's reputation was largely built by focusing on specialised ships, under 100m in length.
The Standard
2 days ago
- The Standard
Amber Rainstorm Warning in force, schools suspended on Fri
Nine outlying island ferry routes to be suspended on Thur morning as special measures in place
