Harland & Wolff Pitch For Ferry Business

The move is in direct competition to the long-established, sole provider of passenger and freight services on the routes involved, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company, which has already drawn up plans for the replacement of its ageing three-ship fleet.

H&W stated last week that it had been working on the design and costings for three vessels over the past three years, and is looking to apply for UK Government ‘levelling-up’ funding, an initiative aimed at boosting regional economic wellbeing. This would lead to an application for an operating licence on the Penzance/Scillies route covering five years plus an option on a further five years, beginning during the spring of 2025.

A pool of £48.5m ($61m) was conditionally allocated by the Westminster Government in 2021 under the levelling-up policy so as to improve the islands’ sea links, although no specific awards have as yet been made, to the chagrin of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group. The latter has subsequently negotiated private financing for its envisaged fleet renewal programme, which it is looking to realise in full by March 2026.

Three new vessels for the Scillies were listed in the demand ‘pipeline’ published with the revised National Shipbuilding Strategy, launched by the government in March 2022. H&W said that a high level of local manufacturing content, implying mainly UK construction, is required under the strategy in exchange for taxpayer funding.

“Given the remoteness of the Isles of Scilly and the reliance that the islanders place on these ferries as essential transport links on a day-to-day basis, it is imperative that these ferries are technically suitable for the route and ensure seamless operation through the winter months,” observed H&W group chief executive John Wood. The company has aimed to structure its overall offering to provide a level of cost-effectiveness beneficial not only to the islanders but also to the economically-important summer tourist trade.

The current passenger vessel on the year-round Penzance route, Isles of Scilly Steamship’s 68m Scillonian III, was delivered in 1977 from the Appledore shipyard, now part of the H&W Group, and the ferry’s technical and operational robustness is implicit in her 46 years of service to date. The fleet is complemented by the crane-fitted, 38m palletised cargo carrier Gry Maritha, built in 1981 and acquired by the company from Norwegian owners in 1989, and the 16m inter-island freight ferry Lyonesse Lady, dating from 1991.

In April this year, Penzance-based Isles of Scilly Steamship announced that it had secured private funding towards its £42m ($52.8m) project to order newbuild replacements for its passenger ferry and two freight vessels. The programme would be financed through recourse to a £33.6m ($42.3m) loan arranged with Lombard NatWest. The move to obtain private financing was instigated by lack of progress in cementing an original, conditional offer of government money, through the levelling-up scheme, for new vessels and infrastructure.

Following this year’s financing deal, newbuild proposals were invited from a shortlist of shipyards. It had been anticipated that a preferred bidder would be made known by the end of July, opening the way to contractual discussions, but no decision has yet been announced. Critical importance is attached to project management efficacy, to ensure that the programme remains on budget and on time to achieve deliveries of all three vessels by March 2026.

The highpoint of the plans advanced by Isles of Scilly Steamship entails a stylish new 72m ferry, Scillonian IV, fitted with stabilisers and laid out to carry 600 passengers, 115 more than the present ship, and with capacity for chilled and frozen goods. She would be joined by a 45m newbuild cargo vessel, also incorporating some passenger space so as to give islanders more winter travel options, plus a new, faster inter-island craft.