PORT Glasgow Yard Fails To Make Shortlist For CalMac Ferry Order
FERGUSON Marine shipyard, Port Glasgow, is out of the running for a major ferry order, with yards in Romania, Turkey and Poland now the only contenders.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) has invited four yards to bid for the contract to build two ferries for Islay out of 11 which expressed interest.
They are Damen Shipyard in Romania, Remontowa Shipbuilding in Poland, and Turkish shipyards Sefine Denizcilik Tersanecilik Turizm, and Cemre Marin Endustri.
CMAL say each submission was assessed rigorously against technical and financial criteria. The shortlisted shipyards will now submit their technical and commercial proposals for the design and construction of the two vessels.
Each will be assessed against quality, technical and commercial criteria, and the contract will be awarded no later than the end of March 2022.
Ferguson Marine is working on to CalMac ferries which are years behind schedule and massively over-budget. The problems led to the yard being taken into Government ownership.
Jim Anderson, director of vessels at CMAL, said: “We received interest from many shipyards across the world, and carried out robust assessment of their technical and financial suitability to take on this project.
“Four shipyards scored the highest across both criteria and have now been issued an invitation to tender (ITT) for the contract. This stage of the procurement process
“The ITT stage marks an important step forward in bringing a new vessel to Islay and Jura. It is one of several new vessel and harbour upgrade projects we are currently progressing to improve the resilience of ferry services for island communities.”
The new vessels will have greater vehicle capacity than those currently on the route, and will have significantly lower energy requirement.
They will be designed “with a clear focus on freight”, including the capability to operate a possible overnight freight service.
The Islay route is already one of the busiest services for freight on the Clyde and Hebrides network, and the incoming ferries will support the island’s economic activity.
Sufficient passenger accommodation will be designed to meet an anticipated increase in demand.
