Scottish island ferries debacle. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Grantanow

I think British manufacturing was decimated by the rise of a highly competitive Chinese manufacturing industry. Uninvested, antiquated, rust-belt UK industries simply couldn't compete.

This, sadly, is the case. I don't know why we bother trying to manufacture anything anymore in the UK.

I think British manufacturing was decimated by the rise of a highly competitive Chinese manufacturing industry. Uninvested, antiquated, rust-belt UK industries simply couldn't compete.

Thanks M0nica. It's just staggering. Hard to believe this has been allowed to happen. But it has. Along with other daft investments up here.

This contract was originally costed at £97 million. Total cost now is expected to be £600 million. www.heraldscotland.com/news/23932143.ferguson-marine-public-cost-ferry-fiasco-firm-nearly-600m/

In other words more than six times the original estimate. Meanwhile Brittany Ferries is buying Three ferries from China at a total cost of under £500 million.

OK, I know China is not flavour of the month, but it would have been cheaper to buy three ferries from China and paid the Ferguson workers to stay at home on full salary.

Actually I think that's frequently why we end up in such a mess on a number of issues, widening issues until you are unable to focus on the specifics of a problem.

Rather than using this debacle as an excuse to attack the Scottish government, maybe take a look at the bigger picture and mourn the demise of British manufacturing as a whole, which was decimated by M Thatcher and has continued to decline to its dire state now. The UK used to manufacture trains, cars, ships, washing machines, textiles and just about everything. Now heavy machinery for any infrastructure projects has to be bought from Germany, when we used to be able to make it ourselves, and we all know what has happened to trade from the EU - it’s massively increased in costs and delay due to our shootings ourselves in the foot over Brexit. Subsidising home grown manufacturing , maybe not be the cheapest route, but can have numerous social benefits. It seems like the only home grown manufacturing we do is in weapons which we sell to Middle Eastern countries or give to Ukraine,

Not for the first and probably not for the last do I wish there was a 'like' button on here...

Thank you OldFrill.

Ailsa43

Which Islanders are being affected for those of us who don't know

Arran has been extremely badly affected, but is not alone. The whole fleet is stretched to the limit so if there is routine maintenance or breakdowns (quite common with such an aged fleet) the knock on effect to the islands is huge. Ferries being shuffled about to cover results in restricted services with fewer crossings and cancellations with very little, if any notice
Turkey are delivering two ships this year (I think) the speed at which these ships have been built has caused further embarrassment to Scotgov and probably hastened the sacking of David Tydeman (scapegoat).
Nicola Sturgeon "launched" one of the Ferguson Marine ferries in 2017 - they painted on false windows such was it's state of completion! The ferry is still being finished to this day.

Oh hello paddyanne you never bothered to get back to those that pointed out the total fabrication of your previous post. I'm afraid you've rather compromised your credibility.
www.gransnet.com/forums/news_and_politics/1333371-Sunaks-wifes-company-gets-35-BILLION-IT-contract-for-NHS

Someone competent needs to be put in charge of Scotland entirely, Callistemon, not just shipyards.

just keep on banging your anti SNP drum and shouting bad SNP

Wasn't it a Committee of aforesaid SNP itself which branded the project "a catastrophic failure of management" after the 12 month enquiry?
🤔

Someone competent needs to be put in charge of this and the project expedited fir the sake of those thousands of islanders..

The glory days of Scottish shipbuilding (in which my friend's father played a large part) are lost in the mists of time.

Which Islanders are being affected for those of us who don't know

All that long rant and only three words shouted in capital letters!!
😯
Goodness!

Well said M0nica 👏👏👏

paddyanne feeling better now? DH is a naval architect(ship designer) and what he says about the competence of everyone in the Ferguson yard over this whole project, doesn't bear repeating, but it is specific to this yard and its competence and the way the contract has been handled by the Scottish SNP government, doesn't bear repeating.

Your attitude typifies the reason everything has gone wrong with this contract. You are not remotely interested in the problems this shambles is causing the islanders, waiting so long for these ferries, no concern for the extortionate waste of Scottish funds that could have been better spent on schools and hospitals, all you are interested is shouting abuse at England. What a way to run a country that used to have every reason to take pride in its shipbuilding industry. How the mighty have fallen.

@ Paddyann- I thought this was about Scottish Island ferries not the “on” button for (yet) another pro-SNP and anti the rest of them diatribe?

Yeah, poor islanders.
Is there any thought at all for them from you Paddyann54 or is banging the SNP drum enough for you?

At the end of the day..Its still over budget and the poor islanders.

You really have your finger on the pulse and undoubtedly pissed off those independence seeking jock slaves of mother England. Now be very careful NOT to mention the failed uk infrastructure projects such as london tube extension Crossrail – also five years late and £4 billion over budget – that was put down to Covid something that would have impacted on every project. Let's not forget the many other examples – from Hinkley Point to a long list of military projects 36 defence projects worth £166 billion are all late and over budget some are even being scrapped. Who could suggest the £120 million spent on the Festival of Brexit or the hideously expensive UK Gov Track and Trace at £37bn was money well spent. HS2 tracking £12o billion cost versus an origin budget of less than half of that and yet it wont even reach Scotland though we are robbing every Scottish tax payer to help foot the bill. Most of all NEVER mention the most obvious comparison in regard to ferries, the supposedly Brexit busting ferries ordered by the UK Government and then cancelled costing £50 million – yeah I know the UK Gov wasted £50 million on ferries that will never be built no just keep on banging your anti SNP drum and shouting bad SNP and hopefully no one in Scotland will notice our even greater FAILED uk government projects