WORK has begun to procure two new ferries at a cost of £115m to support flagging CalMac lifeline services.

It is hoped that both ferries will be in place by 2026 and that they will serve the communities of Harris and North Uist, which have suffered severe disruption since the beginning of this year.

In August, islanders complained that shops on North and South Uist had been forced to ration essential items in the wake of widespread ferry cancellations due to a broken down vessel.

It is hoped the contract will be awarded by the end of the year, while the formal tender process is expected later this week.

It comes a matter of weeks after the construction of two new lifeline ferries for Islay got officially underway six months after the £105m contract was controversially given to a Turkish shipyard.

A steel-cutting ceremony took place at Cemre Marin Endustri shipyard in Turkey three weeks ago, where the two vessels are being built for state-controlled ferry owners Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL).

The first vessel is expected to be delivered by October 2024 and will enter service following sea trials and crew familiarisation. The second vessel will follow in early 2025.

Transport Scotland says it is hoped that the new vessels will be completed after that.

The Scottish Government said it had prioritised additional funding to enable Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) to accelerate plans for replacement vessels in the CalMac fleet.

Transport Scotland said: "They will be built to the same specification as the existing ferries under construction for Islay. This will speed up the replacement of the major vessel fleet and provide a more standardised vessel type that can be used on a variety of different routes, providing potential economies of scale and enhanced public value."

It comes as island ferries MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802, which were due online in the first half of 2018, with one to serve Arran and the other to serve the Skye triangle routes to North Uist and Harris, are at least five years late, with costs soaring from £97m to nearly £350m.

The Herald: The unfinished Glen Sannox Caledonian Macbrayne ferry in the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde.

Transport minister Jenny Gilruth said they intended to deploy the ferries on the Skye triangle routes - freeing up Hull 802 to potentially join Glen Sannox in serving Arran, one of the country's busiest routes.

“The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to improving the lifeline ferry fleet and better meeting the needs of island communities, so I’m pleased to announce additional funding to allow CMAL to launch a procurement for two additional vessels for the CalMac fleet,"she said.

The minister said that the ferries would deliver "dedicated services to communities in the peak season rather than the shared vessel operation currently in place". She added: "This will create the opportunity for significantly increased capacity and resilience for the communities of the Western Isles."

“It will also allow consideration of all options to deploy [Hull 802] on an alternative route, including potentially alongside her sister ship, the MV Glen Sannox, to provide additional capacity to and from Arran in the peak season. All the options will be discussed with island communities at the appropriate time."

Residents on Uist complained of food shortages being imposed by local shops with islanders restricted to just one carton of milk and one loaf of bread during one ferry breakdown.

Islanders complained to CalMac about food shelves being bare as vital supplies were not reaching shops, while there was evidence of ‘panic buying’. CalMac then  insisted all food was being shipped and said it was not fair to say that any shortages were the direct result of the ferry issues.

The Herald:

In the last contract award, the Scottish Government-controlled CMAL, which owns the nation's ageing ferry fleet, had invited four overseas companies to bid to build the two vessels bound for Islay - and excluded Inverclyde shipbuilder Ferguson Marine.

The shipbuilder which runs the last remaining shipyard on the lower Clyde was nationalised after it financially collapsed in August 2019, amid soaring costs and delays to the construction of two lifeline island ferries.

The award to Turkey was described by Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson as "an embarrassment for the SNP".

It was confirmed that Ferguson Marine embarked in a bid for the contract through the initial Pre-Qualification Questionnaire vetting process but failed to get to the tender stage.

The successful initial bids were from Damen Shipyard in Romania, Remontowa Shipbuilding in Poland, and Turkish shipyards Sefine Denizcilik Tersanecilik Turizm, and Cemre Marin Endustri.

The four shortlisted shipyards went on to submit technical and commercial proposals for the design and construction of the two vessels before a decision was made on the contract.

CMAL said that each submission was to rigorously assessed against "quality, technical and commercial criteria".

Ms Gilruth added: “Since this government was elected in May 2021, we have bought and deployed an additional vessel in the MV Loch Frisa in June, previously chartered the MV Arrow to provide additional capacity, made significant progress in the construction of vessels 801 and 802, commissioned two new vessels for Islay and progressed investment to improve key ports and harbours. Now, we are delivering a further two new vessels as well as continuing to work on pursuing all reasonable and appropriate opportunities to enhance capacity and resilience in the short term through second hand vessels.”

Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson said: “Island residents who have suffered years of disruption as a result of the SNP’s epic incompetence will be forgiven for not getting too excited at this news.

“It is a relief to see the SNP finally playing catch-up on their decade-old ferry replacement programme, but after the fiasco at Ferguson Marine, no-one be holding their breath for these vessels being delivered any time soon.

“The Ferguson Marine scandal has already cost the public up to £300m and we are still months away from either ferry setting sail. Now, it looks as though Hull 802 may not even be used for the original route it was promised to serve, as CalMac desperately try to cover the shortcomings in their ageing fleet caused by SNP incompetence.

“Meanwhile the SNP have been more concerned with covering up their dodgy dealings than delivering for island communities.

“We cannot allow this contract to go the same way as Ferguson’s. The SNP must now commit to a fully open transparent procurement process and long-term funding for Scotland’s ferry provision, if they want to win back any trust from furious island residents.”