Construction costs for Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) three ferries being built in a shipyard inTurkey, have risen by around £20 million, the Scottish Transport Secretary has said.
Stephen Flynn had said ministers have approved the additional project costs to complete the construction of three of the remaining four newbuilds, MV Loch Indaal, MV Lochmor, and MV Claymore.
The fourth, MV Isle of Islay as Afloat reported, has since entered service in March, more than a year later than expected, on the route from Kennacraig on the Mull of Kintyre peninsula.
The three vessels under construction, which are taking place at the Cemre shipyard, Yalova, in Turkey, are to join CalMac in a move to modernise the fleet. The state-run operator, which has the biggest domestic ferry fleet in the UK, serves routes on Scotland’s west coast, and the newbuilds are a bid to ease pressures caused by its ageing vessels.
Flynn, in a letter sent to the Scottish Parliament’s Transport Committee this week, said that the new delays have also been confirmed.
For much more, The National reports on the developments delaying the delivery of the newbuilds which Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) took formal ownership of despite them not yet being completed.
As Afloat reported, the move by CMAL, was as a “precautionary” measure, as they cited the region faced supply chain issues due to challenging global circumstances, notably the ongoing disruption in the Red Sea.
