Having recently attended a consultative meeting on the proposed future of shipbuilding on the Clyde, I feel obliged to voice my opinion.
I am now retired, having worked in the yards for 50 years and endeavouring all that time to keep the yards open, both as a steward in the "work-in" joint shop stewards committee and beyond until my retiral. So I have seen many iterations, configurations and manufacturing systems employed with varying success and forward my opinion on the two options.
With the global markets in military and civilian shipping ever evolving and expanding, we should be maximising the potential range and size of ships that can be built in Scotland-UK, otherwise we will quickly find ourselves locked out of certain opportunities.
Govan is the only yard that can accommodate larger vessels, such as the replacements for the Royal Navy's helicopter carrier HMS. Ocean and the amphibious capital ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark.
It should stop the ludicrous situation where four new logistic support vessels for the Royal Navy are being built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering at a cost of £452 million to the British taxpayer, money that should have created thousands of jobs in Scotland and the United Kingdom.
Also, we have the situation where the Wemyss Bay-Rothesay ferry was built in Gdansk, Poland, the Aberdeen-Orkney/Shetland ferries were built in Finland and the new ferry for the Ullapool-Stornoway run is being constructed in Germany. These ships should have been built in Scotland.
One option that does not seem to have been explored is the possibility to cover and gate the existing wet dock at Govan to create a covered dry dock. It would then have the capacity to accommodate the largest ships required for the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy.
The Govan community has been centred round the shipbuilding industry for more than 150 years and shutting Govan Shipyard would deliver a death blow to it.
If Govan shipyard was to close and only Scotstoun was left, the city would lose the critical mass of shipbuilding skills required to sustain and maintain a successful industry.
The UK is an island nation, with 95% imports/exports carried on ships. To lose the last shipyard capable of building these ships is the economics of the madhouse.
Scotland's National Planning Framework has consistently stated the importance of water-borne transport to the economy of the country. Freight, ferry and supply ships are the key to existing major industries and to the expansion of the emerging offshore renewables sector. If Scotland, and the UK, lose the ability to build the full range of essential vessels needed to service these, they we will forever more be at the mercy of foreign markets.
Having considered the implication of the options on a number of levels, it is clear the consequences may have far-reaching impacts for the company, the community, the city and the country.
I strongly believe the best option is the two-site option. Retaining both yards with the capacity and flexibility that this affords should be the one adopted.
Davie Torrance,
55 Blantyre Crescent,
Duntocher,
Clydebank.
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