Crunch time for Ferguson Marine as winner of CalMac £175m ferry order to be announced

Winner of seven vessel contract to be announced on Monday

The winner of a key contract for electric CalMac ferries is to be announced on Monday, with beleaguered shipyard Ferguson Marine waiting to hear whether it has secured the £175 million order.

The Scottish Government-owned yard has been shortlisted with five other firms in a contest for the seven vessels after ministers rejected calls to directly award it the work because they said that would be likely to trigger legal wrangles, delaying construction.

A visualisation of the planned new electric ferries | Transport Scotland/naValue

Ferry-buying firm Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal), which is also state owned, is due to announce the “preferred bidder” for the so-called Small Vessel Replacement Programme, after having its choice approved by ministers.

By contrast, the award of the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa ferries contract to Ferguson Marine was very much a political announcement, made by ministers at an SNP conference in 2015.

Cmal chief executive Kevin Hobbs has previously expressed confidence in Ferguson Marine’s ability to build the ferries as it successfully completed three similar hybrid diesel-electric vessels more than a decade ago.

The yard vowed to “aggressively” bid for the latest contract. But there have been doubts over whether it could lodge as competitive an offer as its rivals, although the Scottish Government pledged £14.2m last year to upgrade facilities.

Ferguson Marine is also struggling to avert further delays to the completion of Glen Rosa, its last remaining work, which is due to be delivered in September - more than seven years late - but that may be put back by as much as another six months.

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The firm is up against Turkish yard Cemre Marin Endustri, which itself has suffered delays to its four-ferry CalMac contract, Merseyside firm Cammell Laird, Asenav of Chile, multinational company Damen Offshore & Specialised Vessels and Remontowa Shipbuilding of Poland, which has built several CalMac vessels.

They scored highest among the 13 yards which expressed interest in the contract, in a “robust assessment against set criteria, including their suitability to take on this project”.

The firms were assessed against specific criteria including their facilities, capacities and capabilities.

Ferguson Marine is also likely to bid for a second order for three larger electric ferries for routes that could include Mallaig to Armadale in Skye.

Ministers face being attacked whatever Cmal decides. If the contract is awarded to Ferguson Marine, some critics are likely to point to the risk of entrusting it with another ferry order after the previous fiasco. But if the deal lands elsewhere, others may question why it did not go to a Scottish company owned by the taxpayer.

Scottish Conservatives transport spokesperson Sue Webber said: “While landing this contract would be a welcome boost for Ferguson Marine, it’s a measure of the SNP’s shambolic mismanagement of the nationalised yard that it has never been a given.

“Under SNP control, Ferguson Marine has been plagued by delays and massive overspends, but shamefully not a single Nationalist minister has resigned or been sacked over a scandal of their making.

“If Ferguson Marine do get the contract, the onus will be on SNP ministers to ensure that passengers aren’t subjected to another unforgivable ferries fiasco.”

The ferries are due to be delivered from 2027 to operate on the Colintraive-Rhubodach (Bute), Lochaline-Fishnish (Mull), Tarbert (Loch Fyne)-Portavadie, Iona-Fionnphort (Mull), Sconser-Raasay, Tobermory-Kilchoan (Mull) and Tayinloan-Gigha routes.