Dual-fuel option could be delayed to get Arran ferry ready on time

By Colin Smeeton

 

The boss of the Ferguson Marine shipyard has confirmed the 'green' dual fuel option for Arran's new ferry could be delayed for at least a year or delivery of the vessel faces further delays.

 

Providing the MV Glen Sannox with its so-called 'green' credentials to be able to use  liquid natural gas (LNG) was a major feature of the ferry plans, however, it could now become a dead-weight in the vessel or, at best, delay the final handover of the ship by one or two months.

 

Ferguson chief executive officer David Tydeman, in a recent letter to the convenor of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, confirmed the ferry may not use LNG for at least a year, using conventional marine diesel oil instead.

 

The target date for the completion of the vessel, which is already five years late, is April 2023 but the LNG commissioning is scheduled for the following month of May. This will be completed by specialist suppliers at Troon.

 

If any issues are discovered with the LNG system, this will either result in the handover delay or a decision will be made whether to use the more cost effective and less environment-harming fuel for the 2023 season or rely solely on the diesel engines.

 

'Subject to the agreement of CMAL/CalMac, there may be a option to defer commissioning of the LNG to winter 2023 and for the MV Glen Sannox to run on single fuel for the 2023 season if there are significant commissioning issues with the LNG system. The decision can be made in April/May 2023,' Mr Tydeman told committee convener Edward Mountain MSP.

 

The use of LNG has long been a bone of contention with opponents who have questioned the real 'green' benefits of LNG which has to be shipped in from the Middle East and transported hundreds of miles by road. The fact LNG use in MV Glen Sannox is relatively new technology - and is also untested by the shipyard - was also questioned at the start of the vessel commissioning.

 

And, as revealed by the Banner in May this year, Danish company KC LNG which received the £5m contract to construct two underground LNG tanks at Ardrossan and Uig, have confirmed they will not be finished until the beginning of 2025.

 

The correspondence from Mr Tydeman also revealed that Hull 802, MV Glen Sannox’s sister ship which is also being built at the Port Glasgow shipyard, will be delayed by three months.

 

"attachment_698639" "" "200"] Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) chief executive officer David Tydeman.

 

 

Ferguson Marine CEO David Tydeman No_B17hull01

 

Marine diesel oil is likely to initially power the huge propeller of the MV Glen Sannox. Photograph: Mark Gibson Digital NO_B37glen02