An intriguing piece in today’s edition of The Herald reports that the Scottish Government-owned David MacBrayne Limited is a partner in an enterprise [Solent Gateway Ltd] that has won ‘preferred bidder’ status to manage for the UK Army its Marchwood Military Port in the Solent.
This has apparently caused something of a local stushie, with hopes dashed for local jobs created by a competing company.
The port is currently operated by the 17th Port and Maritime Regiment of the Royal Logistics Corps; with this privatisation of its management appearing to be part of the continuing cuts to the funding of the UK’s armed services.
David MacBrayne Limited has defended its initiative – and the award of’ ‘preferrred bidder’ to its partnership – in saying that it has significant expertise in port management, having operated 24 of the ports operated formerly by CalMac.
That expertise is, of course, out of date in a fast changing world, since CalMac was reduced to the status of ferry operator many years ago.
Moreover, none of the ports which David MacBrayne, through CalMac, would then have operated back then has anything like the complexity of Marchwood, which is home port for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary [RFA]. The RFA is an operations support fleet, owned by the Ministry of Defence [MoD] and manned by civilians.
It has 13 ships delivering replenishments of all necessary supplies to Royal Navy ships in service around the world; amphibious warfare support in, for example, landing vessels; running repairs to vessels in service; and training in aviation related operations.
The RFA also has under its wing, 5 more ships which are from the merchant navy and leased to the MoD. One of these is a tanker and the other four are Ro-Ro Sealifts.
The immediate question is why, if, as it has done, the Scottish Government has approved – and will have supported – the David MacBrayne Limted bid for the Marchwood management contract?
If a Scottish Government-owned company were going to be a player in the Marchwood gig, CMAL would have been the obvious choice.
CMAL is the Scottish Government’s asset holder, managing the ports and harbours used by the west coast ferry operator; owning and leasing the fleet of ferries to the ferry operator.
Does this major public sector development in the south of England for David MacBrayne Limited mean that CMAL is not highly regarded as a port manager – although its port management expertise is at least current?
Is the Scottish Government to make CMAL redundant by realigning the vessels and ports with the ferry operation – as was the situation with CalMac before they found reason to split that company in two – and externalise the asset holder from David MacBrayne Limited?
Or does it mean that this is a sweetener to David MacBrayne Limited in compensation for a planned government ditching of CalMac in favour of the dodgy privateer, Serco, in the contract for the delivery of the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Services [CHFS] – now out to tender and, intriguingly, not to be announced until after the 2016 Scottish election?
David MacBrayne Limited has already lost to such a ditching CalMac’s sister company, NorthLink Ferries, in the last contract for the delivery of ferry services to the Northern Isles, controversially awarded – to Serco.
Serco is known to be competing for the CHFS contract and was understood to have been given the nod for the CHFS contract before Transport Scotland lost its nerve in the face of potential public outcry in the run up to indyref 1, abandoned the tender and gave CalMac a three year contract extension to 2016.
The Marchwood move will have been engineered by collaboration between the two governments and its sheer oddity flags up its potential function as compensation.
On paper, David MacBrayne Limited may have past experience in managing ports – but why would it have staff in post today with that expertise. It has had no need of them for some time. It will have to gear up and buy in the expertise.
If CalMac gets the bullet as North Link Ferries did, David MacBrayne Limited, a state owned company would be left with nothing in its portfolio except the Argyll Ferries’ [subsidiary company of CalMac] contract for the Gourock-Dunoon passenger ferry which looks like it’s financially unsupportable into the future and may not be durable.
The Marchwood adventure may be a form of employment protection for senior CalMac management, to mute any potential incitement of protest when CHFS is tucked into Serco’s capacious pockets – after next year’s election.
This lark has all the signs of good news for Serco in late May next year; CMAL staying on as the asset holder, managing the ports and harbours and leasing its fleet to Serco; some of CalMac’s ferry and operations staff TUPEd over to employment with Serco; redundant CalMac management shipped out to Marchwood with David MacBrayne Limited; and Dunoon saying goodbye to its troubled and expensive Gourock-Dunoon town centres’ passenger ferry service at the end of the current Argyll Ferries’ contract.
There may even be a nudge-nudge deal for the Scottish Government later to sell David MacBrayne Limited to a management staff buy out for a very modest consideration.
Why would the Scottish Government be interested in owning a company that in a couple of years may be doing nothing other than managing a military port in the south of England?
