The Scottish Conservatives have accused the SNP of ‘abandoning’ island communities, after failures over ferry procurement have left islanders relying on an aging and unreliable fleet.
Bringing a debate to parliament this Wednesday, the Scottish Conservatives will hold the SNP to account on their failure to deliver the Glen Sannox and Hull 802 ferries, which are being built at their nationalised shipyard, Ferguson Marine.
The party will call for greater long-term funding to ensure the sustainability of lifeline ferry links across Scotland and improve the quality of service for island communities.
The debate comes after a Turkish shipyard won a £105 million contract to build two new ferries for Islay. Despite being commissioned by Scottish Government-controlled CMAL, Ferguson Marine was excluded from bidding for the contract.
The two ferries at Ferguson Marine are already years overdue and it was recently announced that incorrectly installed cabling would have to be ripped out and replaced, causing further delays. Costs for the two vessels are also now likely to quadruple from an initial £97 million to £400 million, according to a former government shipbuilding advisor yesterday.
The debate will coincide the publication of an Audit Scotland report on the Ferguson Marine shipyard, expected to shed light on the failures and disruption at the site.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Transport Minister, Graham Simpson said: “The SNP have presided over failure after failure at Ferguson Marine.
“From endless delays, to spiralling costs, to ‘too-short’ cables, the SNP’s nationalised shipyard has become an utter laughing stock.
“But that should not distract us from the real casualties of this SNP incompetence – Scotland’s island communities.
“Islanders have been abandoned by an SNP Government that has not only failed to produce the lifeline ferries it promised, but is still failing to provide adequate long-term funding for Scotland’s ferry provision.
“As a result, island residents are having to rely on an ageing and ever more unreliable fleet – with all the daily stress and disruption this entails.
“The SNP have dodged questions on this fiasco for too long – the Scottish Conservatives are bringing this debate on Wednesday to stand up for island communities and force the SNP to answer for these shocking failures.”
Notes:
The two ferries currently being built at Ferguson Marine have been delayed by more than three years. The Glen Sannox was originally due to enter service in 2018/19, however the latest delivery dates for the vessel are between July and September 2022. Hull 802, the second vessel, was scheduled to enter service in 2019, however the latest estimate is that it will be delivered between April and July 2023. (The Scotsman, 7 January 2022, link, BBC, 24 June 2021, link, Stornoway Gazette, 8 October 2021, link).
The completion of the two long-overdue ferries is likely to be delayed once again because of incorrectly installed wiring. Outgoing Ferguson Marine turnaround director Tim Hair informed MSPs that issues with short cabling are set to further delay and increase costs for the already overdue vessels. The problem was reported on the Glen Sannox, but this issue is also likely to have occurred on the second vessel, Hull 802. (The Herald, 10 February 2022, link).
A former Scottish Government shipbuilding adviser estimated that completing the ferries could cost as much as £400 million. Luke van Beek said the original price of £97 million for the two dual-fuel ferries to serve the Scottish islands was unrealistic. He called for a public inquiry into the fiasco and noted that the cost of completing two ferries at the state-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard could be as high as £400 million (The Herald, 21 March 2022, link).
Two new CalMac ferries will be built in Turkey instead of Scotland. Scottish government-owned Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) has named Cemre Marin Endustri, in Turkey as the preferred bidder for a £105m contract to build two new CalMac ferries for Islay. Ferguson Marine was not invited to bid for the contract. The first vessel is expected by October 2024 while the second is expected in 2025. (The Herald, 11 March 2022, link)