Shipyard could close says union

It now looks certain, following meetings held on Monday at the Clyde shipyard of Ferguson Shipbuilders, that the vast majority of the workers employed there are to lose their jobs. Out of 126 jobs, 99 would be axed – 86 manual and 13 technical.

The news was worse than the union members thought as they had been advised that 99 staff are to be made redundant which will leave a very limited staff of around 30 behind.

The yard has been struggling for survival for some time, but a lack of orders and complications with the European Union tendering process for a new fisheries protection vessel appear to have finally bit hard.

There are fears that this could be the end of shipbuilding on the lower Clyde although it is in the Scottish Executive’s gift to save the yard by immediately awarding the contract to build the £14 million pound fisheries vessel. However, it appears that the Executive’s response was that the review of the tendering process that caused the disruption was on-going and that even when it was resolved, the whole tender process would have to be gone through again. This would mean a minimum of six months before any contract could be awarded, and there were no guarantees that Ferguson’s would win in any case.

The only visible sign of shipbuilding work at the yard now is the fitting out of the Calmac car ferry LOCH SHIRA at the repair quay.