The CalMac ferry scandal - is it more than SNP incompetence? She promised a full review but stopped short of a public inquiry. Work starts on new CalMac ferries in Turkey but will they be ready before Ferguson Marine vessels? Ferries are a major issue in the west of Scotland. Both the Glen Sannox and Hull 802 are millions of pounds over budget and more than five years late due to problems with the Port Glasgow yard, which included the business going into administration. In addition to major delays and cost overruns, the main contractor Ferguson Marine was nationalised. [13], A further issue is that the engines bought for the vessels had been sat idle for six years, and Dr Spyros Hirdaris, a professor of maritime safety from Helisinki where the engine manufacturer Wartsila is based, stated that there was a "high possibility that the ferry engines won't work". All you need to know about everything that matters. The ferry procurement was run under something called a restricted procedure that meant interested shipyards had to fill out a "pre-qualification questionnaire" or PQQ - in effect a screening process to select who would be invited to tender. Ferries fiasco: Threat of legal action connected to contract award [12] By the end of September 2022, only 26% of cables had been replaced. A NEW fault with one of the ferries at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco could see it lose its green credentials. Ferguson also uniquely received a 424-page document from a design consultant setting out CalMac's technical requirements, which was not extended to other bidders, who had to rely on a more limited 125-page specification. r/Scotland - HERE IS THE PROOF THAT THE GOVERNMENT WERE WARNED IN Many commentators argue that the island communities would anyway be better served by a larger number of smaller, cheaper, more efficient vessels, such as the catamarans used for years by the unsubsidised privately-run Pentland Ferries for their service to and from Orkney Islands (CalMac receives a subsidy of 120m-150m in a normal year). It also stated that it did not believe a parent company guarantee was appropriate. There were 15 milestone payments which would culminate in the final payment of 97 million and the delivery of the ferries. Alex Salmond: Ferry fiasco nothing to do with me With new ferries now 5 years overdue and two-and-a half times over . Despite the advantage of having access to CalMac's own specification document, a report by a CalMac naval architect still found the design by Remontowa best matched its requirements, with Ferguson ranked second. Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to commit to resignations of her government ministers if the ferry fiasco continues.. He wrote: The journalist is looking for sensationalism and will look to you for a critical quote or a contradiction. He then advises Mr Ostergaard that CalMac had agreed with Transport Scotland that they would not participate in the documentary. Ferries fiasco Sturgeon adviser was 'consulted' over contract The scoring formula allocated points based on the difference between a shipyard's price and that of the cheapest, so Ferguson would have scored very poorly. Nicola Sturgeon warned her ministers should resign if there is further The MSPs' report into the "catastrophic" mismanagement of CalMac ferry building is hard-hitting, but it doesn't end the Ferguson ferry fiasco. [38], In a written response to the Public Audit Committee Mackay said that he had "confidence" in the recommendation, and that there was expectation the contract would receive "sufficient monitoring and oversight". Nicola Sturgeon warned her ministers should resign if there is further chaos over botched ferries. A new management team had recently been installed, and they too had no experience of building a ferry of this size. Ferguson was also allowed to significantly change its design halfway through the tender by developing a variant mentioned but discounted in its original submission. Brian Wilson: Islanders have been betrayed by ferries fiasco but so Union representatives praised Mr Hair for offering permanent contracts to temporary staff, but later became worried by slow progress despite high numbers of highly-paid managers and supervisors being taken on. The announcement was made by Derek Mackay who was then a junior minister responsible for Transport and Islands. [24][25] Both ships are also unlikely to operate their designated routes because the 130 million project to convert existing infrastructure in the ports to handle the new ferries remains incomplete. John Sturrock QC: CalMac ferries fiasco - what mediation could have achieved. At standard industry prices, that should have been enough to replace much of CalMacs fleet. Ferry fiasco: Slipway slips continue - BBC News Mackay had left the government in 2020 having been exposed by a tabloid for grooming a schoolboy. [20] In the year to March 2021, Caledonian MacBrayne had been hit with fines by Transport Scotland of 3.2 million for delays. Ferguson Marine: MSPs investigating ferries fiasco visit shipyard Jim McColl believes the ferries will cost at least 300m and ferry expert Roy Pederson says it would be better to scrap them and start again. This was to be provided in the form of a banker's letter. News quiz: What was Erling Haaland blamed for this week? No other shipyard was offered a similar in-person meeting. 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 Ministers Questions. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton set out a series of key demands for the First Minister to commit to for when she addresses the committee on Friday and in the months ahead. Further threat ferry fiasco ships may never be delivered as cost to Attempts to interview Erik Ostergaard, chairman of David MacBrayne Ltd, were also rejected, with Robbie Drummond, managing director at CalMac, saying in emails to his fellow directors that there is nothing in it for us if he is interviewed. The ferries fiasco is emblematic of a culture of incompetent defeatism and buck-passing that is widespread in Scottish public life, but never more damaging than in industrial policy. The unfinished Glen Sannox ferry seen at Ferguson Marine shipyard on 1 April in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The fiasco on Scotland's ferries continues and still seems far from a safe harbour. New fault means environmentally friendly Scots fiasco ferry cannot In the summer of 2014, the last shipyard on the lower Clyde, Ferguson Shipbuilders, went bust. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Emails seen by the BBC show that CMAL's assessors clearly knew the identity of the shipyards they were scoring. The ongoing CalMac ferries fiasco will cost the Scottish Government 1.5BILLION to sort out according to a bombshell document reportedly leaked to a journalist. In February 2022, at least 400 electrical cables installed aboard MV Glen Sannox were found to be too short to reach equipment. Read about our approach to external linking. This 424-page document was then distilled down to a much shorter 125-page technical specification that was issued by CMAL to shortlisted bidders. Finance secretary John Swinney announced on Wednesday that the Scottish Government was cutting 10m for the free laptop project. The SNP wasted more than six hours at Westminster debating Scexit and then only mustered 38 votes in favour. [41], Following the BBC's disclosure of documents suggesting that the Ferguson Marine had benefited from preferential treatment in the procurement process, John Swinney told the Scottish Parliament on 27 September 2022 that Audit Scotland would again investigate the issue. Scottish Tory transport spokesperson Graham Simpson said: "This may be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the dodgy dealings over these ferries, but its still disgraceful to see publicly-owned bodies closing ranks to avoid scrutiny in this way. Islanders have been betrayed by ferries fiasco but so have the workers Within a year, CMAL was reporting serious technical and quality concerns. The decision to build two CalMac ferries at the Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow has led to years of controversy. Every player in this fiasco is now Scottish government-owned and controlled. 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 45,000 or so inhabitants of the Hebrides depend on ferry links to deliver essential supplies; to take people back and forth to jobs and medical appointments on the mainland; and to bring in tourists, their economic lifeblood. CMAL warned; "The current rate at which cable is pulled presents a serious threat to the project". Nationalised Ferguson Marine has confirmed that further issues with Glen Sannox means it will not initially run on LNG. 'Shambles': New fault means environmentally friendly Scots fiasco ferry When this was queried, it said it was having discussions with the Scottish government regarding "bonding for ship contracts in general" and that the issue will "hopefully be sorted". 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. As part of the evaluation, CalMac was invited to comment on how well the three shortlisted designs met its requirements, before CMAL scored them. In a damning report MSPs call for "root and branch" reform of the system for procuring ships for Scotland's publicly-owned ferry network. It later fell to 97m. The average age for each ferry is 24 years old, of the 10 largest ferries, four are over 30 years old, which is beyond their expected operational life and the MV Isle of Arran 38 years old. 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 has been revealed that CalMac, CMAL and Transport Scotland all collaborated to avoid answering questions about the Ferguson Marine scandal. [5] As contract negotiations between CMAL and Ferguson Marine were concluding in September 2015, the chairman of CMAL, Erik Ostergard, wrote in an email "The issue is that the level of refund guarantee is not sufficient. And in March, a 105m contract to build two new CalMac ferries to serve Islay was awarded to a Turkish company, Cemre Marin Endustri. 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. [29], A report by Audit Scotland in March 2022 found the total cost to have risen to 240 million. Chiefs at Remontowa said laywers were weighing up the move as they be Read about our approach to external linking. "A lack of transparent decision-making, a lack of project oversight, and no clear understanding of what significant sums of public money have achieved. Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) have an effective monopoly over ferry services to Scotland's numerous islands, which are homes to approximately 45,000 people. Ferguson disputes this, but soon after, the yardwent bust, with debts of more than 70m including 50m to taxpayers and was nationalised by the Scottish government, which loaned it a further 45m. 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. The Scottish Government has battled accusations of incompetence concerning the whole issue, but now allegations of potential criminality are raised. 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". November 2, 2022, 5:00 pm. [2] Research shows the replacement of ferries fell from one every 14 months from 1993 to 2007 (with 33,350 tonnes launched), to one every 36.1 months from 2007 to 2021 (with 16,188 tonnes launched). CalMac ferries fiasco will cost 1.5BILLION to sort out according to A great deal. It adds that it may raise significant procurement risks and warned a successful legal challenge could be high and potentially see the contract declared ineffective. FERRY FIASCO: Nicola Sturgeon dodges Douglas Ross' questions about accepting ferries responsibility No views Sep 29, 2022 0 Dislike Share Save The Scottish Sun 5.47K subscribers At FMQs,. Eight years later, just two ferries are set to cost taxpayers 240m, and will be delivered five years later than first envisaged. 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. 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. [8], By the end of September 2022, the cost estimates from Ferguson Marine to put both ferries into service had risen by another 100 million to a total of 340 million. 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. The Scottish Parliaments Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee published a report in December 2020 after a 12 month inquiry. And attempts to update them have embroiled the Scottish government in a major scandal. CMAL also held an in-person meeting with Ferguson, which was not extended to other bidders. 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. It made no sense to perpetuate it . The Great Ferries Scandal will be broadcast on BBC One Scotland at 20:00 on Tuesday 27 September. The SNP Westminster leader urged his opponents to check Hansard for him talking about renewable energy but nothing was found on the system. Failure to deliver the vessels is a scandal that won't go away for ministers. 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. In the meantime, CalMac has been scouring the world for second-hand ferries. It centres on a botched procurement process. [36][37] Keith Brown the then Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, signed the contract on behalf of the Scottish Government, but he also denied responsibility claiming to sign in lieu of Mackay who was on holiday at the time. The procurement process began in July 2014 with ferry operator CalMac drawing up its Specification of Operational and Technical Requirements (SOTR). The gap was narrowed further by adding in estimates of extra costs such as site supervision. Scottish Conservatives @ScotTories. CMAL and CalMac eventually agreed to relax some specifications in order to go with the smaller engines - but it led to delays in detailed design work. He labels these intentions as "looking for a sensational angle." Island communities have been left to go whistle, amid an absence of accountability. Insurer Asks Court To Toss Lawsuit Over 5M Ferry Fiasco [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. [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. McColl, Fergusons former boss, claims his firm was forced to work to a purely political timetable: that the SNP wanted a good news story to announce at its party conference, and rushed through the contract without normal safeguards. 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. SNP could face multi-million pound court battle over 'rigged' ferries [42] It was announced that Nicola Sturgeon would give evidence to the Public Audit Committee in November 2022. When the bids were opened, Ferguson's price came in at 109.8m - while the cheapest was 72.8m. READ MORE: SNP MP Angus MacNeil puts 'party loyalty' above island residents as he stays silent on CalMac. They provide "lifeline services" to 22 of the bigger islands and on average its 34 vessels complete 466 crossings a day. The Highlands and Islands MSP said the ferries fiasco was a "Scottish disgrace". We need a public inquiry now. Another requirement was that the ferries would need larger bow thrusters and a stern thruster to make them more manoeuvrable in dock. Since the SNP took power in 2007, the rate at which new vessels are produced has more than halved. 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. Readers' letters: Driving tests, drug addiction and ferries fiasco These had been fitted so that the builder could claim a "milestone payment" from the Scottish Government. [15] Letting the yard go and losing two ferries was "not an option considered" by the Scottish Government. [3], The source of the scandal starts in the summer of 2014 when the last shipyard on the lower clyde, Ferguson Marine Ltd went into administration. The Auditor General's recent report on the construction of two CalMac ferries identifies various failures. And true to form, Penny Mordaunt wasted no time in showing them up on Thursday afternoon, True story of David Stirling, the Scots-born soldier who started the SAS, The story of the elite British military force founded in the 1940s will be the subject to a new BBC drama SAS Rogue Heroes which starts on Sunday, Nicola Sturgeon claims 20m independence fund is 'very small sum of money'. 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. Nationalised Ferguson Marine has confirmed that further issues with Glen . Sign up to our daily newsletter here. The retro mobile phones that could net you hundreds of pounds on eBay: does your old favourite make the list? FERRY FIASCO: Nicola Sturgeon dodges Douglas Ross' questions about New fault means environmentally friendly Scots fiasco ferry cannot One of the two CalMac ferries being built on the Clyde may end up being mothballed, a former UK government minister has warned.Two new ferries are to be dedicated to the Uig-Tarbert and Uig .

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