CMAL directors head to Barcelona to pass on their ‘expertise’

JUST THE TICKET: The luxury liner which will host the conference will sail to Italy and back for "fun and education".

With no apparent sense of irony, CMAL’s director of vessels, Jim Anderson, will address 450 floating attendees under the heading “Fleet Renewal Programme” while chief executive, Kevin Hobbs, will share his insights on “Short Range Operators”, though CMAL isn’t an operator at all.

The Shippax Ferry Conference has been an industry fixture for 20 years.

It will be held on board the Grimaldi liner ‘Cruise Barcelona’ which will sail to Civitavecchia near Rome and back again while guests engage in “fun and education”.

While Mr Hobbs did not arrive at CMAL until after the fateful contract was signed, he has been in charge throughout the debacle that has left two CMAL-procured ferries lying uncompleted at the Ferguson yard in Port Glasgow. Jim Anderson has been at CMAL since 2016.

Biographical notes for speakers make no reference to CMAL other than in job titles.

Mr Hobbs prefers to hark back to 1996 when as CEO and managing director of Seatruck Ferries Group, “he oversaw an investment portfolio of eight new build freight ferries and five pre-owned ferries”.

MEANWHILE, CMAL and the Scottish Government are facing criticism for failing to secure economic benefit for Scotland from sub-contracts awarded by a Turkish yard which won orders for four CalMac ferries. They are worth £220 million with 58 sub-contractors.

However, Scottish Transport Minister Kevin Stewart, said: ”In line with relevant procurement legislation, an open tendering process was led by CMAL as the procuring authority. The bid received from this yard represented the best value for money in terms of quality and price.

"The contract awarded by CMAL is a standard international shipbuilding contract and as such the decision regarding materials and equipment lies with the shipyard.”

According to the Scottish Government, the only company with a Scottish presence sub-contracted to the Turkish yard is Kongsberg Maritime, a Norwegian-owned group that is supplying the ships’ stabiliser fins from its plant in Dunfermline.