A campaign including community, civic and religious leaders as well as politicians from three parties is calling for more government help for the Ferguson shipyard.
An open letter to First Minister John Swinney says the nationalised firm in Port Glasgow should be directly awarded a contract for a new CalMac ferry, as it looks to move on from the controversy over two delayed and overbudget ships.
Local politicians from Labour, the SNP and the Scottish Conservatives as well as the Bishop of Paisley have signed the letter, drawn up by the GMB union.
Transport Scotland said any direct award would have to comply with rules on procurement and state subsidy in order to avoid a risk of legal challenge.
The shipyard has been mired in controversy over delays and overspends building two much larger CalMac ships, MV Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, which involved a demanding specification and a gas propulsion system unfamiliar to UK shipyards.
The campaign is asking the Scottish government to ensure a replacement for MV Lord of the Isles is manufactured at the yard, to help restore the yard’s reputation after a “bruising 10 years”.
The letter says that while the reasons for the problems are still debated, the “skilled and committed workforce is entirely blameless”.
It also says that foreign firms with “bids underpinned by low wages” will always beat UK shipyards on cost, but the social and economic value of Ferguson Marine to Inverclyde “is incalculable”.
Ferguson Marine employs about 300 workers and apprentices in an area which has high levels of deprivation.
In the space of 18 months recently it lost another 1,200 jobs as several major employers closed down or relocated.
There has been speculation about the future of the nationalised shipyard since it missed out on a crucial order in March to build seven small electric ferries for CalMac, similar to ones it had built on time and on budget previously.
Its bid scored well on quality but government-owned ferries agency CMAL awarded the contract to Poland’s Remontowa which undercut the Scottish yard on price.
While Ferguson Marine has since secured some subcontracting work on the Royal Navy frigates being built in Glasgow, it has no more ship orders once MV Glen Rosa is finished next year.
The replacement for MV Lord of the Isles – known as Loti – will be smaller and less complex than the dual-fuel LNG ships which have given the yard so much trouble.
The new ship will serve the route between Lochboisdale on South Uist and Mallaig on the mainland.
Louise Gilmour, general secretary of GMB Scotland, questioned the Scottish government’s previous insistence that competition rules prevented direct award for ferries contracts.
She said: “These contracts cannot be decided on price alone when foreign bids are underpinned by low wages and tax breaks.
“The huge social and economic value of shipbuilding to the communities of Inverclyde of Ferguson Marine have not been properly valued in previous tenders.”
More than dozen community leaders and politicians have signed the open letter including SNP backbencher Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde.
McMillan said: “The yard needs a pipeline of work and there are still many commercial shipbuilding opportunities that exist, in addition to naval contracts, which the yard can also win more work from.
“The yard has delivered in the past and can deliver again.”
Other signatories include Labour MP Martin McCluskey, Labour MSPs Neil Bibby and Katy Clark, the leader of Inverclyde Council Stephen McCabe and the leaders of the SNP and Scottish Conservative groups on the local authority.
The Bishop of Paisley John Keenan and the group editor of the Greenock Telegraph Gillian Murphy have also backed the campaign.
Ferguson’s has built more than 380 ships since it was founded in 1903, including about a third of the CalMac fleet and six of the 10 largest CalMac vessels.
Procurement rules
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “Shipbuilding is a competitive global market and any direct award of a public contract must comply with applicable procurement and subsidy control rules and be capable of withstanding legal challenge.”
“Ministers consider vessel contracts at an appropriate time on a case-by-case basis, including the Lord of the Isles, to determine an appropriate and lawful route to market and also review potential community benefits.
“Under public procurement and subsidy control rules, direct award of public contracts is only possible in strictly limited circumstances.
“We are currently considering the business case and next steps in relation to the replacement for the MV Lord of The Isles and will confirm these in due course.”
