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Sunday, November 24, 2024

COLUMN | Loose ends, part one: Scottish Ferry Fiasco nears first finish; SBM’s Whistleblower vindicated [Offshore Accounts] - Baird Maritime

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We have another two-parter this week as we take time to wrap up some loose ends! We have previously observed that the wheels of justice grind slowly, so it is time to revisit some of the long-simmering stories we have covered.

Some of these gifts have kept on giving for a decade or more – a reminder that offshore is a long cycle business, and that payback and punishment for corruption and incompetence can take years.

Scottish Ferry Fiasco update

In October 2015 (yes, nine years ago), the Scottish Government awarded local shipyard Ferguson Marine a contract to build two dual-fuel, liquefied natural gas (LNG) ferries to service the Outer Hebrides islands for a supposedly fixed price of 97 million (which was then equivalent to US$149 million) for state-owned ferry company Caledonian Maritime Assets (CMAL). Strangely, the customer omitted to obtain a refund guarantee from the wee shipyard on the Clyde river.

Since then, the yard has gone bust, the Scottish Government has given hundreds of millions in state support, the national assembly audit committee has delivered a damning report into the project, the BBC has revealed a shockingly biased bidding process ahead of the award, several CEOs have come and gone from the yard, and the two ferries have been delayed and delayed and further delayed (see our Background reading links below). A true shambles, and an expensive one.

SNP wipeout

Former Scottish First Minister Nicola SturgeonScottish Government

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