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Displaying items by tag: Public Ownership

Shipyard Ferguson Marine has officially been taken into public ownership, the Scottish Government has announced.

The move, reports STV News, came on Tuesday after administrators agreed the final terms of the transaction with Scottish Ministers.

The yard will now be known as Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd.

There had been three other offers for the Inverclyde site, however administrators concluded the sale to the Scottish Government represented the best outcome for creditors.

Staff at the shipyard have been told of the latest position.

For more click here to read.

Published in Ports & Shipping

A contract has been signed by the Scottish Government to take the troubled Ferguson Marine shipyard into public ownership, reports The National.

It follows an agreement reached last month for the Government to take over the yard after the firm entered administration in August. A meeting of the board of directors of Macrocom – the company wholly owned by Scottish ministers that will own the Ferguson Marine business and assets – was held yesterday to consider and sign the contract.

Full completion of the contract and the final transaction is expected to take place in the coming weeks.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said the action taken would help to ensure a future for the yard. “Our focus has always been on ensuring completion of the two public sector ferries at the best value for money for the taxpayer, while also working towards the delivery of the other vessels under construction at the yard, and in doing so, securing jobs for the workforce,” he said.

More on the story here. 

Published in Ports & Shipping

#BullochPublic - In a move being considered by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, the local authority could bring land at Bulloch Harbour in Dalkey into public ownership.

The decision reports DublinLive, would also see the land developed in the public’s interest, was made at this month’s full meeting of the council.

A masterplan for the area cannot be considered by any planning authority unless it is submitted by the owners of the land being considered for development.

As a result, councillors have called on the council to consider taking ownership of the land.

In February, a residential and retail development proposed for Bulloch Harbour was refused permission, on the grounds that the development was “completely out of scale” with the harbour.
 
The move faced strong opposition from from local residents in Dalkey, along with singer Christy Moore and Solidarity/PBP TD Richard Boyd-Barrett.
 
This month's council meeting also sought to arrange a meeting between the Dun Laoighaire-Rathdown and the Dublin Port company, which it is hoped will allow for the discussion of a masterplan for the Sandycove and Bulloch Harbour areas.
Published in Coastal Notes

Esailing & Virtual Sailing information

The concept of e-sailing, or virtual sailing, is based on a computer game sailing challenge that has been around for more than a decade.

The research and development of software over this time means its popularity has taken off to the extent that it has now become a part of the sailing seascape and now allows people to take an 'active part' in some of the most famous regattas across the world such as the Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Sydney Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup and some Olympic venues too, all from the comfort of their armchair.

The most popular model is the 'eSailing World Championship'. It is an annual esports competition, first held in 2018 and officially recognised by World Sailing, the sports governing body.

The eSailing World Championship is a yearly competition for virtual sailors competing on the Virtual Regatta Inshore game.

The contract to run the event was given to a private company, Virtual Regatta that had amassed tens of thousands of sailors playing offshore sailing routing game following major offshore races in real-time.

In April 2020, the company says on its website that it has 35,000 active players and 500,000 regattas sailed.

Virtual Regatta started in 2010 as a small team of passionate designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs gathered around the idea that virtual sailing sports games can mix with real races and real skippers.