Shipping magnate unveils new ferry proposal
CALMAC ferries could yet be the jewel in the crown of Scottish nationalised industry.
A Scottish businessman is set to table a proposal that would bring 1200 jobs to the Clydeside in a “compelling” new ferry-building programme before Scottish Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth.
Dr Stuart Ballantyne, whose Australian company Sea Transport has delivered hundreds of catamaran ferries all over the world and whose MV Pentalina is in operation in Orkney, has brought forward a plan to utilise Ferguson Marine and revived Inchgreen and Govan sites that could halve the £2 billion long-term ferry replacement costs the Scottish Government would potentially face under current projections.
This is beyond budget-busting, overdue ships and contracts outsourced to Turkey.
He is part of the Clyde Catamaran Group, also including Professor Alf Baird, Peter Breslin of Govan Drydock, Robert Buirds of Save Inchgreen Drydock Campaign, and Ken Mcarthur of Marine Capital Corporation.
Mr Ballantyne set out plans for a total order book worth £800 million for 50 vessels over two decades.
“Pentalina has been the proving horse in terms of really rough water, and in 2010 she won in the Sustainable Transport Awards for being the best-performing service, even better than the big 130-metre monohulls that run from Aberdeen,” he said. “You’ve just got to keep it simple, make a design that is suitable and you then just do production build of those.”
There are now steps to arrange a meeting for a consideration of the plan, with a positive initial response from the Scottish Government.
Transport Scotland currently has a programme under way of investment by CMAL, the operating entity of Calmac, funded with £580m and with plans for 21 new ferries over the next decade.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “We know we need to do more to address the current challenges facing our ferry network.
“As part of the forthcoming islands connectivity plan, we will set out a long-term investment programme for vessels and ports which the Project Neptune report calls for and islanders need to see.
“The Transport Minister would be happy to meet with the Clyde Catermaran Group to hear more about these proposals.”
Elsewhere this week, the proposal for a rural visa pilot scheme for Scotland, setting out how a bespoke immigration solution could be delivered, makes perfect sense, writes business editor Ian Mcconnell in his Called to Account column.
“Sensible solutions, however, seem not to matter one whit these days to the Conservative Government at Westminster, particularly when it comes to matters such as immigration on which it is ideologically hidebound,” he writes.
It comes as staff shortages arising from Brexit are undermining the international reputation of the Scottish tourism offer, according to the chief of one leading tour company, who has called for a relaxation of immigration rules to the help boost the industry, deputy business editor Scott Wright reveals.
There was a toast this week as an Italian supplier to Scotland’s whisky industry announced plans to consolidate its operations in this country at a new £36m “superfactory” in Lanarkshire, business correspondent Kristy Dorsey reports.