A TURKISH shipyard has been named the preferred bidder to win a £115m contract to build two ferries for longsuffering islanders as attempts are made to shore up the nation’s ageing ferry fleet.

Transport Scotland has said it is hoped that both ferries will be in place by 2026 and that they will serve the communities of Harris and North Uist, which have suffered severe disruption since the beginning of this year.

The Scottish Government agency had previously confirmed that the new ferries will be built to the same specification as those 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”.

Industry insiders told the Herald this gave 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.

Now state-controlled ferry owners Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) has said the preferred bidder to build the two new ferries to support the communities at Uig, Lochmaddy and Tarbert (Harris) is Cemre Marin Endustri shipyard firm.

Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson said: “This contract won’t go to Scotland because of the SNP’s appalling mismanagement of the building of ferries 801 and 802.

“It is scandalous that the SNP has put Scottish shipbuilding in the position where it cannot be considered suitable for such a job.

“What matters to islanders, though, is that they will get new ferries and the Turkish yard appears to be best-placed to deliver that.”

Alba Party’s general secretary Chris McEleny who has been fighting for work to be given to Ferguson Marine directly said it was a "Christmas betrayal".

 Sneaking out the decision on the Friday before Christmas is nothing short of an act of cowardice on the part of CMAL and the Scottish Government, but it is one we will not let them get away with," he said.

Jim Anderson, director of vessels at CMAL said: “This is a big step forward in procuring two new vessels for the Little Minch routes to Lochmaddy and Tarbert. These ferries will deliver dedicated services to North Uist and Harris in the peak season, rather than he shared vessel operation currently in place.

“We will now enter a 10 day standstill period before finalising the contract. We intend to share an update in early January after the festive period with further information, such as forecasted delivery dates.”

It is 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 also comes a few months 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.

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.

The Herald:

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 has previously said they intended to deploy the latest 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 Herald: MV HEBRIDES

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.

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.