On the banks of the Clyde, the embattled shipyard of Ferguson Marine has made it onto the shortlist to build seven small new electric ferries for Scottish government owned operator Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac).
The development for the Port Glasgow yard, which still struggles to complete the first of two dual-fuel powered CalMac ferries that are more than six years late, is up against five other overseas bidders for the £175 million order.
Among the bidders is the Turkish yard Cemre Marin Endustri, which won the last contract from CalMac for four ferries under construction for Islay off the Mull of Kintyre and the Little Minch in the Outer Hebrides. These new builds, as Afloat previously reported, are running four months behind schedule.
Ferguson Marine, which is also owned by the Scottish government, is not expected to win the latest Western Isles ferry order because it is seen as needing modernisation to become more competitive. The facility downriver of Glasgow city is to be funded by a £14 million state grant, which was announced in July.
More from The Scotsman’s coverage, and aside from the Port Glasgow yard, the only other UK-based shipbuilder shortlisted for the small electric ferry contract is Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, Merseyside.
The remaining shipyards are Asenav S.A. (Chile), Damen Offshore & Specialised Vessels. (Multinational), and Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. (Poland), which built the Finlaggan.
The ferry built in 2011 operates as the main Islay route vessel which had partnered the Hebridean Isles which at almost 40 years-old as Afloat reported is to be retired when withdrawn from service next month.
The veteran vessel no longer operates Islay services but Afloat has tracked to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis where the route to Ullapool normally served by Loch Seaforth is currently operated by Isle of Lewis. This has permitted the largest ferry in the CalMac fleet to sail to shipyard Cammel Laird where it arrived yesterday to undergo annual overhaul dry-docking.
