Despite reports that harbour infrastructure upgrades at Ardrossan are delayed and that there are ‘serious risks’ to completing vessel 801 due to cabling issues, the Scottish Government has today re-confirmed that the long-delayed vessels 801 and 802 will be delivered within budget by the end of March 2023 and December 2023.
However, Edward Mountain MSP, the former Convener of the REC Committee which undertook the Ferries Inquiry, has cast fresh doubts on this, highlighting that the further delays and overspends are “probably inevitable”.
Edward Mountain MSP visited the Ferguson Marine Shipyard on Friday 2 September, after which he said that while the yard definitely has a future under its new management, the SNP Government must “come clean” over the delays and budget overspends for Hulls 801 and 802.
During Topical Questions at the Scottish Parliament today, Edward Mountain MSP asked the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise whether he could confirm if “Hull 801 will be delivered by May 2023 and Hull 802 by December 2023 and within the latest cost to complete budget of £123 million.”
The Minister replied that both vessels will be delivered within the timeframes and current budgets. He added that: “The Deputy First Minister and the Minister for Transport were able to see first-hand the progress made on both vessels during their visit to the shipyard on 2 August, this year.”
Edward Mountain MSP responded: “We know there’s only about £30m left in the budget pot and at least another 15 months of build time. So, frankly, an overspend is probably inevitable. Given the latest disastrous information on harbour upgrades, in what year will both ferries be fully operational on their planned routes?”
The Minister said: “As I’ve already indicated, the completion dates for those ferries are the end of May 2023 and the end of December 2023, and both ferries will be going into operation after those dates.” He added: “Work is continuing to ensure that the turnaround in the yard is delivering to those results and also the yard is increasingly becoming more competitive to allow it to bid for other business going forward.”
Edward Mountain MSP then said: “What we’ve got is a Scottish Government that doesn’t know when the infrastructure in place to allow for the ferries to operate on the routes, we’ve had a Scottish Government that’s mucked up on the contract, the nationalisation of the yard and will overspend on their budget and will delay to build the harbour infrastructure we so desperately need. What more could possibly have gone wrong?
The Minister replied: “I think the member is incorrect, the harbour infrastructure has been put in place to ensure that the ferries can operate and as I’ve said already the completion dates for those ferries are as I’ve already indicated”
Following Topical Questions, Edward Mountain MSP commented:
“The Minister might be saying that all is well, but the delivery deadlines for these vessels is getting tighter by the day and the budget is being used up quickly.
“Recent reports have also suggested that cabling issues with 801 has delayed construction but again we see the Scottish Government doubling down on their target to deliver the vessels on their current timeline and within budget.
“We will know for sure about how much progress still needs to be made when Ferguson Marine update the Scottish Parliament at the end of this month.
“The Minister also gave no assurances about when harbour upgrades would be completed to ensure the Glen Sannox can sail from Ardrossan.
“This Government’s mismanagement of our ferry network has been disastrous and Islanders will be left wondering what more can go wrong under the SNP.”
