Ferguson Marine plans yard expansion with new build hall

Ferguson Marine has launched a ground investigation tender ahead of potential yard transformation works at its Port Glasgow site, as planning for an expansion of the Scottish shipyard moves from ambition to concrete action.

The procurement notice seeks ground investigation work to establish the suitability of the site for a potential yard transformation. A separate document seen by the UK Defence Journal indicates the work is being produced to support the development of a new portal frame fabrication shed of up to 100 metres long by 40 metres wide, with three pits sunk into the floor to a maximum depth of 1,900 millimetres.

The procurement follows evidence given by Ferguson Marine chief executive Graeme Thomson to Holyrood’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee earlier this year, in which he was candid about the yard’s current constraints. “You are correct that the yard will run out of space at some point,” he told MSPs, adding that the company was reviewing how to make better use of the existing site and optimise production flow. “In the journey that we are starting on, we will look at how to optimise space so there is a proper production flow that makes best use of it,” he said.

A conversation with Ferguson Marine’s new chief

Ambitions extend well beyond the current yard boundary, Thomson said, “I have been clear since I have been in the job that I hope that Port Glasgow will not be big enough in five years”, pointing to potential expansion at the Inchgreen facility around a mile away and other areas around the existing site. He added that he had already been in discussion with Inverclyde Council about potential expansion options, saying he hoped the yard could spread out “perhaps at Inchgreen or other annexed areas, so that we can get to the point at which we are creating a good solid commercial shipbuilding industry in Inverclyde again.”

The space constraints are not straightforward to resolve and Thomson noted one unusual obstacle, telling MSPs that “part of the issue is that we have a fire station in the middle of our yard that serves the whole community” and that it could not be moved. Despite that, he said there was land near the existing site that could potentially accommodate additional industrial capacity. “There is space in front of the yard that we could use. It does not look like much, but it could be sufficient for us to put in another panel line or other automated equipment,” he said.

Scottish Government to order four ships at Ferguson Marine

The expansion question came up during discussions about the Scottish Government’s plan to directly award contracts for four more vessels, and whether Ferguson Marine could actually handle that kind of workload. Thomson reckoned the programme would take around five years, though he was quick to point out that a lot depended on when the contracts were actually signed.

As we reported earlier this year, Ferguson Marine has already been involved in Type 26 frigate block fabrication work for BAE Systems, completing three steel hull modules for HMS Belfast in the yard’s first contribution to a Royal Navy warship. That work has been central to Thomson’s argument that the yard is capable of competing for serious defence contracts alongside its civil ferry commitments.