Clyde Shipyard Closure

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Scotsman.com:

Ferguson closure another nail in the coffin for the Clyde

quote:

COLIN DONALD
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (cdonald@scotsman.com)
WITH the announcement of the closure of one of the last remaining Clyde shipyards - with the loss of 75 jobs - expected today, one of Europe's leading maritime transport experts has blamed the decline of the Clyde shipyards on "unenlightened and uncompetitive" government policy and "lack of a proper maritime strategy".

Dr Alf Baird, head of the maritime research group at Napier University in Edinburgh, said that the fate of Ferguson Shipbuilders was made inevitable by its "lack of proven designs of its own" and "weak purchasing power" after the failure of family-owned shipyards to consolidate to achieve economies of scale, or to forge partnerships with international market leaders.

For the rest of the story, go to http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=344592007

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From the BBC.com:

Row over shipbuilder jobs crisis

quote:

Ministers have come under pressure over the crisis at Ferguson shipyard, where up to 99 jobs could be lost.
The Scottish National Party, the Tories and the STUC said ministers must take responsibility for any job losses in Port Glasgow.

There have been reports that the Scottish Executive rejected an offer by the Ministry of Defence which could have saved the jobs.

For the rest of the story, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6422009.stm

For context, see also the Shipping Times article at http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item273_fergusons2.htm

Comment: The Clyde has a long and honoured history in shipbuilding which now looks set to pass away for want of any sort of orders to keep it open. That this matter has attracted ministerial interest shows that this is taken very seriously by the current government, but talk is one thing and action is quite another. Such skill bases that are needed to keep a shipyard going are highly perishable, difficult to build up and all too easy to lose.

If this yard is to be saved, some sort of substantive action will have to be taken soon. If the place is shut, it's unlikely that it'll ever again open it's doors.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Not every shipyard on the Clyde is doing badly. From The Shipping Times:

Chancellor visits Scotstoun shipyard

quote:

The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP visited BAE Systems shipyard at Scotstoun on the Clyde today (Thursday) where he met with over 60 apprentices and graduates before taking a tour of the most advanced warship in the world to date, HMS Daring.

The Chancellor’s visit comes just weeks after BAE Systems released figures from the Fraser of Allander Institute that showed the Clyde yards are worth over £238million to the Scottish economy and support 57 jobs for every 100 people employed directly by the company.

For the rest of the story, go to http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item474_scotstoun.htm

 

[Linda Sherlock]

I find it interesting that BAE, a company that designs and develops warships and weapons for the Ministry of Defence in Britain has moved into the area of actually building the ships in its own yards as well. Has this happened in the U.S. too, a company taking over the whole process in this way?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Has this happened in the U.S. too, a company taking over the whole process in this way?<<

There have been so many mergers and "rightsizings" in the U.S. that you can't tell them all without a scorecard. Northrup-Grumman for example, once were two different aircraft companies, are now one, and which now owns the Newport News Shipbuilding And Drydock company.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Shipping Times:

Feature: The Story of the Clyde Bank Shipyard

quote:

As giant shipyard crane is opened to the public, Shipping Times looks at the history of one of the world's most famous shipyards...



Last week saw the latest tourist attraction opened on the River Clyde, the towering Titan crane built by Wm Arrol situated in Clydebank where John Brown's famous yard constructed the world's biggest ships of their time.

Visitors can reach the jib by lift and step out and take in the dizzying views over the river that crane operators used to see - or rather, they will see a 21st century reincarnation of the former shipyard, which was flattened except for the crane just a few years ago.

Given that one of the world's most famous ships, the QE2 was built there and will visit the river of her birth in September, Shipping Times takes this opportunity to give a history of the much loved shipyard and some of the ships that were built there.

For the rest of this six part article, start at http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item789_clydebank.htm

Comment: For the RMS Titanic connection, one of the notable vessels built at this yard was The City Of New York. It's a shame that this yard which built some of the largest and most famous ships in the world is now gone except for the crane.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Herald:

Clyde must consolidate shipbuilding success

quote:

Back in April 2000, the Westminster Government looked as though it had given up on shipbuilding in Britain. A ferry order for the MoD looked set to go to a foreign power - which looked like the thin edge of the wedge and the death of shipbuilding on the Clyde. But the "fight" was taken up by The Herald and fortunes changed with remarkable results.

The Clyde shipbuilding facilities were loss-making in the 1990s under GEC, Marconi and Kvaerner, but BAE Systems (Goven yard, pictured) has turned this around, with naval orders, to a turnover of £550m, with undisclosed profits.

For the rest, go HERE

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Scotsman:

A new generation of shipbuilders has found a home on the Clyde

quote:

SEE the yards?" says Skippy the welder. "We don't just build ships. We build people as well." On Govan Road in Glasgow there is a long brick wall the colour of dried blood, maybe ten feet high if you count the barbed wire coiled along the top.

More at http://www.scotsman.com/features/A-new-generation-of-shipbuilders.6737301.jp