Shipyard now nationalised
● Ferguson will move into public control if no private buyer can be found
The ferguson marine ship yard on the Clyde is to be nationalised by the Scottish Government amid an ongoing row over a £97 million ferry contract, it has been confirmed. The move safeguards the future of 300 workers at the site.
The ferguson marine ship yard on the Clyde is to be nationalised by the Scottish Government amid an ongoing row over a £97 million ferry contract, it has been confirmed.
Ministers have reached an agreement with administrators to take the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow into public control.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay visited the yard yesterday where he set out the proposals which will safeguard the future of more than 300 workers at the site.
The firm took the first steps towards administration last week amid a stand-off with publicly-owned ferry firm Cal Mac over a deal to build two new ships.
Costs on the original £97m contract have spiralled with neither side prepared to meet the additional bill. The deal will allow both ships to be completed.
Mr Mackay said: “It is absolutely essential that the outstanding contracts to build these two ferries are completed in order to sustain the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services network and provide vital support for the economies of our island communities.
“The alternative was for the government to stand aside while the company went into administration, resulting in the jobs being lost and the vessels not being completed. That was not an outcome I was willing to consider.”
The arrangement struck yesterday will see Ministers operate the yard under a management deal with administrators, with the Government then buying over the facility if no private buyer is found within four weeks.
Entrepreneur Jim Mccoll’s Clyde Blowers bought Ferguson’s out of administration five years ago and the government has already loaned Ferguson’s £45m to stay afloat.
But its current problems stem from a bitter dispute over with CMAL, the company that owns and manages ferries on behalf of the Scottish government, over the £97m cost agreed for two ferries.
Mr Mccoll claimed that repeated design changes had pushed up the cost, with claims it is now almost double the original sum agreed.
Mr Mackay was unable to say yesterday what the final cost of the ferries would be or how much it will cost the Government to nationalise the yard.
GMB Scotland Organiser Gary Cook said: “Nationalisation secures the immediate future of the yard and that is a very welcome development, particularly after all the recent uncertainty. It is five years since the yard went bust and the Scottish Government has prevented that from happening again.”
“It is five years since the yard went bust and the Scottish Government has prevented that from happening again.”
GARY COOK
GMB SCOTLAND ORGANISER