Turkish shipyard favourite to land deal to build new Scots ferries

The Scottish Government agency has confirmed that the new ferries will be built to the same specification as new ferries which are being designed and built in Turkey for Islay.

They say it will “speed up” the replacement of the major vessel fleet and provide a more standardised vessel type that can be used on a variety of different routes, “providing potential economies of scale and enhanced public value”.

But industry insiders say this will give the Cemre Marin Endustri shipyard in Turkey, which won the Islay ferries contract a "strong competitive advantage" having produced the blueprint through the Islay tender process.

This would be another blow to state-controlled Ferguson Marine, which failed to get past the first Pre Qualification Questionnaire hurdle in the Islay ferries contract and is still struggling to produce two delayed vessels.

It comes a matter of weeks after the construction of two new lifeline ferries for Islay got officially underway after the £105m contract was controversially given to the Turkish shipyard seven months ago.

A steel-cutting ceremony took place at the Turkish shipyard three weeks ago, where the two vessels are being built for state-controlled ferry owners Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL).

It means that the two new vessels are expected to be like the Islay ferries, 310 foot long with the capacity to take up to 450 passengers and 100 cars or 14 commercial vehicles.

There are now currently six major ferries in different stages of being built.

It is hoped that all the ferries will be in place by 2026 and that the two newest will serve the communities of Harris and North Uist, which have suffered severe disruption since the beginning of this year.

There are are currently six ferries of a similar size that are currently 27 years or older. Thy will be over 30 years old in 2026.

After 1973, when the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. acquired most of the ferries and routes and began joint Clyde and West Highland operations under the new name of Caledonian MacBrayne, the official expected life of a ferry had been 20 years.

CMAL, which owns the ferry network, and commissions new vessels has previously insisted well-maintained ferries can operate safely for 40 years.

Transport Scotland said that details over which of the ageing fleet the two ferries takes the place of are still to be worked out.

It is already known that the four vessels currently under construction will replace 38-year-old MV Isle of Arran, 37-year-old Mv Hebridean Isles and 33-year-old MV Lord of the Isles.

The two ferries at the centre of Scotland's shipbuilding fiasco, MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802, which were due online in the first half of 2018, with one to serve Arran and the other to serve the Skye triangle routes to North Uist and Harris, are at least five years late, with costs soaring from £97m to nearly £350m.

Transport minister Jenny Gilruth said they intended to deploy the ferries on the Skye triangle routes - freeing up Hull 802 to potentially join Glen Sannox in serving Arran, one of the country's busiest routes.

The two vessels are expected to initially replace 22-year-old MV Hebrides.

“The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to improving the lifeline ferry fleet and better meeting the needs of island communities, so I’m pleased to announce additional funding to allow CMAL to launch a procurement for two additional vessels for the CalMac fleet," said Ms Gilruth.

But Scottish Labour Islands spokesman Rhoda Grant feared that the new ferries might be a "back-up plan in case their botched ferries never sail".

But Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesman Willie Rennie said: "The underlying problem here is that there seems to be no long-term plan for replacing the creaking CalMac fleet. Instead vessels are procured as and when pressure from opposition parties and islanders becomes too much for the government to bear. That's no way to run a ferry fleet.

"The government must now provide a clear timeline for these vessels and any additional modifications to piers and infrastructure to be completed."

In August, islanders complained that shops on North and South Uist had been forced to ration essential items in the wake of widespread ferry cancellations due to a broken down vessel - MV Hebrides. It had to be taken out of service for a third time in a matter of weeks because of an issue with its CO2 firefighting system - which is a safety issue.

Residents on Uist complained they had been restricted to just one carton of milk and one loaf of bread during one ferry breakdown.

Islanders complained to CalMac about food shelves being bare as vital supplies were not reaching shops, while there was evidence of ‘panic buying’. CalMac then insisted all food was being shipped and said it was not fair to say that any shortages were the direct result of the ferry issues.

It is hoped the contract will be awarded by the end of the year, while the formal tender process is expected later this week.

The Scottish Government said it had prioritised additional funding to enable CMAL to accelerate plans for replacement vessels in the CalMac fleet. This would have to be paid back over 20 years or more by CMAL through its normal voted loans system.

In the last contract award, the Scottish Government-controlled CMAL, which owns the nation's ageing ferry fleet, had invited four overseas companies to bid to build the two vessels bound for Islay - and excluded Inverclyde shipbuilder Ferguson Marine.

The shipbuilder which runs the last remaining shipyard on the lower Clyde was nationalised after it financially collapsed in August 2019, amid soaring costs and delays to the construction of two lifeline island ferries.

The award to Turkey was described by Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson as "an embarrassment for the SNP".

It was confirmed that Ferguson Marine embarked in a bid for the contract through the initial Pre-Qualification Questionnaire vetting process but failed to get to the tender stage.

CMAL said that each submission was to rigorously assessed against "quality, technical and commercial criteria".

Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson said islanders who had suffered years of ferry service disruption "will be forgiven for not getting too excited at this news".

He said: “It is a relief to see the SNP finally playing catch-up on their decade-old ferry replacement programme, but after the fiasco at Ferguson Marine, no-one be holding their breath for these vessels being delivered any time soon.

“The Ferguson Marine scandal has already cost the public up to £300m and we are still months away from either ferry setting sail. Now, it looks as though Hull 802 may not even be used for the original route it was promised to serve, as CalMac desperately try to cover the shortcomings in their ageing fleet caused by SNP incompetence.

“We cannot allow this contract to go the same way as Ferguson’s. The SNP must now commit to a fully open transparent procurement process and long-term funding for Scotland’s ferry provision, if they want to win back any trust from furious island residents.”