Turkish shipyard named as preferred bidder to build new Scots ferries

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Turkish shipyard has been named as the preferred bidder to build two new ferries for Scotland’s island communities.Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (Cmal) has announced it intends to award the contract to the Cemre Marin Endustri AS shipyard in Turkey.

There will be a 10-day standstill period until the contract is signed and Cmal will confirm costs and delivery dates following this.The new vessels will be deployed on the Uig, Tarbert and Lochmaddy routes and will be built to the same specification as the Islay ferries already under construction at the Turkish shipyard.

The existing fleet has suffered disruption because of faults, resulting in delays and cancelled services.It is thought the contract to build the new fleet will speed up the replacement and provide a more standardised vessel type that can be used on a variety of routes.Jim Anderson, Cmal’s director of vessels, said: “This is a big step forward is procuring two new vessels for the Little Minch routes to Lochmaddy and Tarbert.

These ferries will deliver dedicated services to North Uist and Harris in the peak season, rather than the shared vessel operation currently in place."We will now enter a 10-day standstill period before finalising the contract.