Scotland to get 4 new ferries in a month*
*But they’re, er, 3ft models for SNP shipyard (with full-size ones STILL unfinished)
IT has been anything but a model contract – with the construction of two ferries running five years late and the SNP government having to bail out the shipyard which is building them.
But now an order has been placed for four perfect miniatures of the controversial vessels.
One of the full-size vessels, MV Glen Sannox, won’t enter service until next year – and her sister ship even later than that – as work continues on both ferries at the now-nationalised shipyard of Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd.
And in a specification that opens the SNP’s handling of the ferry fiasco to even more ridicule, the high-quality 1:100-scale display models must be ready within a month.
They will be just over 3ft long and will feature a loaded vehicle deck. The models will be displayed in glass or heavy duty acrylic cases at a cost of up to £2,000 each – a far cry from the £250 million bill for the real vessels.
Yesterday Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘This almost sounds beyond a joke.
‘But then, unlike the real thing, Ferguson Marine aren’t building the models, so perhaps they won’t be five years late and two-and-ahalf times the budget. It’s odd, when both the SNP and the yard’s handling of this whole business has been abysmal from the start, that they should want souvenirs of this fiasco.’
The shipyard, previously owned by tycoon Jim McColl, was nationalised in 2019 after it went into administration amid wrangles over design changes, delays and disputes over costs.
MV Glen Sannox – due to be added to Caledonian MacBrayne’s route from Ardrossan, Ayrshire, to Brodick, Arran – is still not finished and is not expected to enter service until March next year at the earliest. It will be the first of two dualfuelled ferries capable of operating with conventional diesel or liquefied natural gas to reduce carbon dioxide, sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions.
Meanwhile, the second ferry, the as-yet unnamed Hull 802, is scheduled for completion between October and December 2023.
Islanders were initially promised that the two vessels would be running by early 2018.
Liberal Democrat economy spokesman Willie Rennie said of the four miniatures: ‘These might be the only ships that the Scottish Government could actually get built on time and even then I wouldn’t bet on them being under budget. It’s hard to see what benefit island communities get from these models. It has been clear that the Scottish Government cared more about PR stunts than it did delivering for islanders.’
Yesterday figures showed there had been an 80 per cent rise on the 90 problems recorded among Caledonian MacBrayne’s ageing fleet for the whole of 2017, with faults this year already totalling 141. Two more vessels were withdrawn last week because of engine problems.
A spokesman for Ferguson Marine said: ‘Our contract with Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd includes procuring four scale models, two for each vessel.’