scottish ferries fiasco

scottish ferries fiasco

But when asked about this, all three bodies refused to offer up anyone for interview and also contacted each other to make sure they were on the same page. It initially filled in the PQQ questionnaire saying only that it would "endeavour to comply with your request". The vessels are already 150 million over budget and 5 years late. Since 2012 it had been kept going with orders for two small diesel/electric hybrid ferries for CalMac, but the yard had lost so many key staff it felt unable to take on a third order. And attempts to update them have embroiled the Scottish government in a major scandal. Four days after the face-to-face meeting, Ferguson's architect was sent a full copy of its technical document with issues highlighted in yellow marker pen. [17], The political disagreements between the parties involved are still ongoing. Further threat ferry fiasco ships may never be delivered as cost to taxpayer soars by nearly 100m NEW concerns have emerged over whether vessels at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco. This 424-page document was then distilled down to a much shorter 125-page technical specification that was issued by CMAL to shortlisted bidders. A year later the business was awarded a 97 million contract to build two ferries, one to serve on the Isle of Arran and replace the MV Isle of Arran, and the second to sail between Skye, North Uist and Harris. He said this "whetted our appetite" but it was too "messy" to buy the yard at this stage as there were problems, such as debts, which administrators would need to clear up. England and Wales company registration number 2008885, Paris vs. Berlin: a continent divided over energy, Lawyer becomes Britains first black female blind barrister, Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 3 November 2022, Rocking the boat: the disgrace of P&O Ferries. Jim McColl, who used to own and run the shipyard, is . However, when it was asked to submit a lighter Model 10-based design, it also dropped its price to about 101m, giving it crucial extra points. One of the SNP's 'climate-friendly' ferries will now run on diesel for at least the first nine months of its service The ferry fiasco has been a disgrace from start to finish. In fact the bids were only anonymised for a small section of the evaluation involving an independent technical expert and a review by CalMac. [40], In September 2022, Transport Scotland published a report by consultants Ernst and Young called Project Neptune which concluded that having multiple state agencies involved in the procurement process led to confusion over roles and responsibilities. The SNP wasted more than six hours at Westminster debating Scexit and then only mustered 38 votes in favour. The finance minister John Swinney gleefully told the Scottish Parliament that the 12 CalMac ferries that were in operation at the time would be replaced, at a cost of just 250m, over the next decade. Ten things we learned about Scotland's ferry fiasco 27 September PA Media The "Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow" sculpture with Glen Sannox in the background The decision to build two CalMac. Shipbuilding is an emotive issue, and the deal allowed Alex Salmond to promise "the reindustrialisation of Scotland" during the campaign. Failure to deliver the vessels is a scandal that won't go away for ministers. Jim McColl claimed the contract was rushed through to coincide with the SNP conference in 2015 and the subsequent nationalisation of the yard was also rushed for political purposes. Senior people from his Clyde Blowers Capital investment company visited the yard to look at the business potential. Theres still no confirmed launch date for the two new ferries and, as recently as January, there were still 175 outstanding technical, safety or quality concerns over them to be resolved. The Scottish government gave the go-ahead for the procurement of two new large CalMac ferries in the summer of 2014, with the original plan to name the preferred bidder by end of March 2015. It later fell to 97m. The retro games consoles that could net you a packet on online: does your old favourite make the list? r/Scotland I welcome the news that the Scottish #BabyBox has been refreshed with redesigned clothes and a baby toothbrush. Ferguson had a big advantage because it had access to the original SOTR. The ferries have still not been delivered with some estimating that the fiasco could cost taxpayers more than 300m. It started as farce but is quickly turning into something more ugly, perhaps even sinister. The Scottish Conservative leader revealed that redacted sections of a document could be read through the use of copy and paste, announcing the details in front of MSPs at First Minister's Questions. Instead a tourist season's ruined in the former and the threat of closure looms over the latter. 2022 BBC. They may have dismissed the documentary as sensationalist but without it, the Scottish public might never have discovered the true extent of Fergusons preferential treatment. One classic mobile phone has an average eBay selling price of 1,776.01 here's a list of second-hand phones fetching the highest average prices at online auction and you might even have one lying around for a little Christmas boost. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [23] Its unnamed sister ship, Hull 802, was expected to be delivered between October and December 2023, however further delays meant that as of September 2022, the ship is not expected to be delivered until the first quarter of 2024. Defending the decision, Nicola Sturgeon said that governments receive legal advice regularly about projects and contracts and labelled Mr Ross desperate. It emerged that windows had been painted on, the bulbous bow was made from flat sheet steel and the funnel not operational. In the scoresheets the seven competing designs were labelled A-F, giving the appearance of an anonymous process. Since the SNP took power in 2007, the rate at which new vessels are produced has more than halved. Gerard Butler's new thriller Plane trails in wake of Con Air and Die Hard, The frenzied action movie leans heavily on classics from the past and just about gets by thanks to the banter between Butler's pilot Brodie Torrance and jailbird Louis Gaspare, played by Mike Colter, Angus Robertson blasted for 'swanning around overseas' while millions of budget cuts are made. [28] The parliaments Audit Committee is currently undertaking an inquiry, and the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee will start an inquiry following a public petition. Three months before launch the bulbous bow as rejected by an inspector from Lloyd's Register, and would need to be "renewed in entirety". One state-owned company, CalMac Caledonian MacBrayne has an effective monopoly on the Clyde and Hebrides network, providing lifeline services to 22 of the bigger islands. Scottish rowan tree that is 'a portal to another world' narrowly pipped to title of best in Britain, The Portal Tree in the grounds of 18th century Mavisbank House in Midlothian finished in second place in the public vote to the Waverley Abbey Yew in Surrey. Old original Sony Playstations, Sega systems and Nintendo consoles can command thousands online and many times their original RRP despite being decades old, Diana Gabaldon gives Outlander season 7 update - and fans might be left frustrated, The US author was asked when the new season would start as fans get impatient waiting to see how Jamie and Claire Fraser are getting on. [11], The construction of both hulls has been marked by repeated delays and mechanical issues, which has pushed their in-service date back by five years from the original planned date. Businessman Jim McColl confirmed to BBC Disclosure that he looked at the business at least two months before it went bust. The ferries were built to a hybrid design, powered by marine diesel oil and liquefied natural gas a first for a UK shipyard. It appeared to be heading towards oblivion until, in August that year, in a deal brokered by then-first minister Alex Salmond, the industrialist Jim McColl, then a firm supporter of Scottish independence, stepped in to save it. CMAL gave Ferguson 38 points in the quality assessment, nearly 10 points more than its nearest rival, making it the winner overall. In the meantime, CalMac has been scouring the world for second-hand ferries. Public inquiry call as failure to order fuel sensors for Scots fiasco ferry made it unsafe Nov 1, 2022 - 16:30 0 A FAILURE to build sensors into one of the ferries at the centre of. The procurement timetable was later extended, with preferred bidder not announced publicly until 31 August 2015 and contract signing in October. Ferries to Orkney and Shetland NorthLink Ferries operate nightly car ferries from Aberdeen in the north east to Lerwick in Shetland, with stops en route on alternative days at Orkney's main port, Kirkwall. CMAL has said that, to the best of its knowledge, it did not supply the SOTR to Ferguson. Now, it looks as though Hull 802 may not even be used for the original route it was promised to serve, as CalMac . And in March, a 105m contract to build two new CalMac ferries to serve Islay was awarded to a Turkish company, Cemre Marin Endustri. Mackay had left the government in 2020 having been exposed by a tabloid for grooming a schoolboy. The procurement process began in July 2014 with ferry operator CalMac drawing up its Specification of Operational and Technical Requirements (SOTR). The tender documents ended up being a compromise, specifying a wider ship than CalMac believed compatible with many existing port structures. All you need to know about everything that matters. Ferguson was also allowed to significantly change its design halfway through the tender by developing a variant mentioned but discounted in its original submission. Readers' Letters: Sturgeon lets down Scots with trip to COP27, Bounty bars Celebrations: Bar to be removed from Celebrations in pre-Christmas trial. He refused to be interviewed on camera and refused to answer any questions when doorstepped by the BBC. The majority of its 351-page technical submission was cut and pasted from the CalMac document - including the font, numbering and minor errors or typos. Read about our approach to external linking. This was to be provided in the form of a banker's letter. A FAILURE to build sensors into one of the ferries at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco means that it remained unsafe to operate, it has emerged. "It is increasingly clear that a public inquiry will be inevitable to get to the bottom of what has gone wrong here as we are still left asking basic questions with no answers., Scottish ministers failure to provide full disclosure or initiate a public inquiry makes it look like they and their agencies have something to hide., A CalMac spokesperson said: The Disclosure Scotland programme raised a number of serious questions and the emails quoted were sent three weeks prior to the programme being broadcast and the details contained within the programme being known.. CMAL warned; "The current rate at which cable is pulled presents a serious threat to the project". The Ferguson shipyard had been struggling for a decade as it was undercut by overseas shipbuilders, particularly in Eastern Europe. In this case though, the ship yard, Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited, wasnt able to give such a guarantee. the procurement process began in july 2014 and a bbc scotland investigation last week revealed a document detailing technical requirments for the vessel by cmal - caledonian maritime assets, the. News quiz: What was Erling Haaland blamed for this week? Chiefs at Remontowa said laywers were weighing up the move as they be Inverclyde SNP MP Ronnie Cowan described this decision as "just reward" for the investment McColl had made in Ferguson Marine. VideoJeremy Bowen on reporting from Ukraine's frontline, Imran Khan survives deadly Pakistan rally shooting, The conspiracy theorists who could run US elections, Why the latest UN climate conference matters. [34], Just before a Parliamentary debate on the contract, Jenny Gilruth, Scotland's junior transport minister, produced an email to show that the contract was ultimately approved by Derek Mackay, a previous junior transport minister. New ferries contract worth 115m to be awarded by end of the year, transport minister announces The Scotsman Contracts for two new ferries will be signed by the end of the year under government plans to speed up the delivery of lifeline ferry services for islanders. Scottish ministers nationalised 118-year-old Ferguson Marine after it ran into difficulties building two ferries for CalMac, a state-owned operator that runs services between the Scottish mainland and surrounding islands. A leaked email from early July reveals that the head of vessels at its procurement agency CMAL believed such a timetable would be "hugely challenging". CMAL's assessors later gave the Polish yard a "poor" score, while Ferguson was ranked as "good" in this section of their evaluation. It made no sense to perpetuate it . Scottish Conservatives @ScotTories. Ferry campaigners and councillors blame CalMac and the Scottish government, which ultimately owns the ferry service, for decades of underfunding and complacency about the impact these. The Auditor General's recent report on the construction of two CalMac ferries identifies various failures. In Depth Scotland's ongoing ferry fiasco: what you need to know Delays in the delivery of two new CalMac passenger ferries have caused a major political scandal The Week Staff 13 May 2022. They provide "lifeline services" to 22 of the bigger islands and on average its 34 vessels complete 466 crossings a day. In the summer of 2014, the last shipyard on the lower Clyde, Ferguson Shipbuilders, went bust. CalMac's review warned that all the shortlisted ship designs were underdeveloped, and that major issues would need to be resolved to "avoid costly variations and delays during design and build of the new ships". One of two Caledonian Macbrayne ferries being built in the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, The MV Glen Sannox setting to leave Ferguson Marine. Ferry fiasco: Slipway slips continue 23 March PA Media A launch ceremony for the MV Glen Sannox was held in November 2017 - but four years later it is still not finished By Douglas Fraser. The document added: The impact of a successful legal challenge could be high in the worst case the contract could be declared ineffective and a challenge could be brought at any time as the contract terms are not being made public. The SNP's constitution secretary is currently in Spain on a two-day junket while his government have cut budgets for a number of services. Scottish islanders consider running own ferry service . We need a public inquiry now. The great ferry scandal https://lnkd.in/daD2TeXM. Visit our corporate site www.futureplc.com Future Publishing Limited, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. But in recent years, its network has been plagued with cancellations and disruptions. Remember the words of Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, just a few weeks ago: the failure to deliver the two ferries, on time and on budget, he said, exposed a multitude of failings. The former owners hoped workers would be kept on during the change of ownership, but within hours of administration most were made redundant. Concerns were also raised about the rationale of erecting the funnels and masts on the first ship when vital equipment for these structures was not yet fitted. The "Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow" sculpture with Glen Sannox in the background, Jim McColl confirmed that he looked into buying Ferguson before it went bust, Evidence that a builders refund guarantee could be provided was a mandatory requirement before being allowed to bid, Ferguson was allowed to resubmit drawings for a much lighter ship, Tim Hair was paid nearly 1.3m during his time as turnaround director, 1: Jim McColl was already looking at buying the yard before it went into administration, 2: CalMac's specification was based on a ship designed for a Swedish route, 3: Ferguson was allowed onto the shortlist despite not meeting a mandatory requirement, 4: Assessors knew whose bids they were scoring, 5: A key document gave Ferguson an advantage, 6: CalMac's experts thought a rival bid was better, 7: Ferguson's design changed significantly after the submission deadline, 8: Ferguson's initial price was 37m higher than the cheapest bid, 9: CMAL and CalMac were often at loggerheads over the design, 10: Workers had no confidence in 'turnaround director' Tim Hair, Jeremy Bowen on reporting from Ukraine's frontline. A report by Audit Scotland published in March cited the absence of a full-refund guarantee as the fundamental issue. The Scottish Parliaments Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee published a report in December 2020 after a 12 month inquiry. .. As of September 2022, the 40 million upgrade of Ardrossan's port, from which the Glen Sannox will operate, was yet to start due to "complexities" on how the bill will be split between Transport Scotland, the port's owner, and North Ayrshire council, delaying the ferry operating on its planned route by a further three years. Yesterday, an email was released which provided the basis for the Scottish Conservative leader taking the FM to task over the issue of who signed off on a deal which has gone so catastrophically awry. ", "Leaked dossier suggests Scottish ferry deal may have been rigged", "Presentation to the Arran Ferry Committee 10 April 2017", "N Pictures Launch Of Ferry Glen Sannox At Port Glasgow", "Scotland's Ferry Fiasco: What went wrong? [4], At the time that contract was awarded there were concerns that Ferguson Marine had not built any ferries of this size in the recent past.

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scottish ferries fiasco