by Bill Heaney
Shipbuilding and Clydeside were synonymous for most of last century, but the industry is now a shadow of its former self.
But could Govan and Greenock, Dumbarton and Clydebank compete with European yards in the 21st century?
Glasgow Labour MSP Paul Sweeney asked the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the finance available for commercial shipbuilding projects at Scottish shipyards.
And how the competitiveness of this compares with that of other European nations with commercial shipbuilding industries.
If you know the history … you might, like MSPs Kate Forbes and Paul Sweeney, forecast a viable future for shipbuilding on the River Clyde.
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, Kate Forbes, replied that the SNP government was firmly committed to securing a sustainable, long-term future for shipbuilding in Scotland.
She added: “We are actively engaging with the United Kingdom Government’s National Shipbuilding Office, which is exploring potential strategies for targeted financial interventions that may take place across the wider public sector and in the private finance space, to ensure that shipbuilding companies in Scotland remain competitive on a global scale.
“We also continue to engage with the UK Government on the review of the national shipbuilding strategy, emphasising Scotland’s strengths in shipbuilding and maritime technology.
“Paul Sweeney and I were both at an event yesterday that demonstrated how strong the Scottish shipbuilding sector is.”
“Scotland is now at the forefront of Europe’s largest naval shipbuilding programme, but the contrast with the lack of commercial shipbuilding activity is stark.
“The main reason for that is the lack of state-backed finance for commercial shipbuilding projects. Germany has used state-backed finance for shipbuilding for at least 30 years.
“Key instruments include the commercial interest reference rate ship financing programme, administered by the German state investment bank, which offers long-term fixed-rate loans for buyers of German-built ships.”
He asked Ms Forbes to commit to establishing a commission that would be a Government-led effort to build a similar state-backed financing scheme in Scotland that would give confidence to our remaining small commercial shipyards, including Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd.
“On the point about financing, there are certainly options for us to consider, through the enterprise agencies and the Scottish National Investment Bank.
“On shipbuilding in particular, there is an opportunity to work closely with the UK Government’s National Shipbuilding Office to ensure that the Scottish shipbuilding industry benefits from the national and international opportunities of its shipbuilding strategy.
“We will continue to engage with the NSO, and I am more than happy to keep Mr Sweeney updated on the progress that we make.”
The need for Scotland to build its own, and potentially other countries commercial ships goes without saying. But is the country capable of doing that.
On current trajectory the answer is a resounding no. The industry on the Clyde was allowed to decline to where it is today. An excellent idea to support a reinvigorated Fergusson Yard was just that, an excellent idea, but it did not work. Eight years late and four times the price for two absolute crocks is testimony to that. Scotland does not have the skill and all of the recent ferry awards have been for builds in Poland and Turkey.
But let us not craw that our defence ship building is a rip roaring success because over in Rosyth the naval ship builder Babcock is employing hundreds of welders from Singapore. And on the Clyde BAR systems are employing hundreds of Romanians and other foreign workers.
Its a grim tale. Scotland just does not the level of trained and skilled personnel. But we do have lots of young people not in education employment and training and lots of older people on long term benefits, Mixed in with corporate plunder so beloved of our Tory / New Labour environment its a sure fire recipe for a country on its knees.
The failure of what was to be the reinvigorated Fergusson Yard along with the utter decline of other industry now long gone is sadly the way we are as a country. Maybe however there’s a future in burger bars, coffee shops and retailing. Seems very much so.
Oh, and whilst pre election the politicos wax lyrical about a bright future, no doubt every bit as bright as the post Brexit bounty years that were to lie ahead, it might be opportune to note that the rocket building company based in Forres, and said to represent a glittering future in the launch of small satellites, has just gone bust with the loss of over a 130 jobs.
Like Fergusson Yard, it sadly didn’t cut the mustard. Why one has to ask. It’s a good question
But at least locally we can introduce a local tourist tax, charge for bin uplift, increase council tax, more than inflation, and indeed, on a UK basis all manner of increased taxes. Taxation, it seems is the answer. And as someone once said to me quite seriously, and a budding politician at that – ” I do my bit for the country by spending my benefit ”
Quite right that budding politico, or am I missing something?