Gamble works as Port yard ahead on £12m ferry

Bosses at the Newark yard took a gamble by beginning construction of the third hybrid eco-friendly vessel early after winning the contract from the Scottish Government.

The vessel will be used on Caledonian MacBrayne routes and follows the yard’s successful completion of MV Hallaigs and MV Lochinvar, the ‘world-first’ hybrid-powered ferries, in recent years.

Staff at Ferguson’s, which is also thought to be in pole position to win another multi-million CalMac order for the new Ardrossan to Brodick ferry, began on the contract at the start of November — more than a month before the planned commencement date.

The Port firm was provisionally announced as the successful contract bidder in September, but under European Union procurement rules that could not be confirmed for a month.

But bosses at the yard decided to start work early to get ‘off to a flyer’ and also to let staff get back to work following a tumultuous few months.

The company plunged into administration in August before being rescued by Scots billionaire businessman Jim McColl, right, and his firm Clyde Blowers Capital.

The new ferry is expected to be finished in the next 18 months, well within the alloted timescale.

Ferguson’s interim chief executive Keith Mitchell told the Tele: “Work has started. Our contract date was, I think, 1 November for the new ferry but we started work and we done what we call ‘a risk’ for two reasons.

“One was to get a headstart on the contract and the other was the guys we had already taken on, 30 or 40 of them, had been cleaning up the yard and giving it a coat of paint and stuff, so they had been on those duties for several weeks.

“They needed to be getting on with some proper work so that’s why we took a flyer.

“If you go into the yard now you will see a fair bit of activity going on, there’s a real a buzz about the place.

“In terms of our project timeline, we were supposed to start it at the beginning of December — we’ve probably had four or five weeks’ work on this job so we’re well ahead, which is good.” Ferguson’s has enjoyed an upturn in fortunes after being rescued by Mr McColl in September.

The firm was renamed Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited and quickly won the third hybrid ferry contract less than a month after the businessman took control.

Bosses have vowed to fight for even more deals and the firm is thought to be in a strong position to land the CalMac Arran ferry order.

Chiefs say they have been inundated with calls about taking on work but insist their focus remains on rebuilding the workforce – which is currently over 60 employees – and securing a new management team.

Mr Mitchell said: “We have plenty of enquiries coming through the door, that’s something we are not short of.

“We just don’t have many people to deal with those and that’s what we are trying to resolve just now.

“There’s a couple of ferries about to come out for tender from CMAL over the next few months.

“Clearly we wouldn’t expect to be given those but we can certainly put our best foot forward and try and win them.” Mr Mitchell also revealed his company had been interested in the Port yard for some time, prior to it getting into financial difficulty in August. He says administration happened before they could properly examine the firm and make a bid.

But the yard is now in safe hands and looks like having a rosy future in the shipbuilding and repair industry – one which is said to be ‘buoyant’ in Europe despite its decline in Scotland over the years.

Mr Mitchell added: “We had been looking at the business prior to it going into administration – we just hadn’t had the time prior to that to do our diligence.

“Surprisingly enough, the market for shipbuilding in Europe is quite buoyant – you wouldn’t think that if you lived on the Clyde.

“Whilst we weren’t in that market prior to looking at Ferguson’s, our market and offices suggests it is actually quite a good market in Europe, both for shipbuilding itself and indeed for repairs.

“That is encouraging.”​