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Yet another ferry fiasco – and £5m bill for taxpayer

By Neil Pooran

THE Scottish Government is facing a £5million bill after losing a High Court case related to its takeover of the Ferguson Marine ferries shipyard.

Government-owned company Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) sought to rectify an agreement with HCC International Insurance Company.

The Texas-based firm said it was owed the windfall as a result of the way ministers bought the troubled shipyard when it was in administration during 2019.

The Government lost another case against HCC International at the Court of Session in May last year.

Ministers, through agency CMAL, sought to rectify a commercial agreement known as a deed of settlement with HCC. But at the High Court in London, Judge Simon Gleeson refused this and granted a summary judgment in favour of HCC.

In a decision published yesterday, Judge Gleeson said: ‘It is easy to see why this

‘Caused so much anger and irritation’

decision seems to have caused so much anger and irritation amongst the Scottish ministers. In paying for the business of FMEL (Ferguson Marine) by reducing FMEL’s liabilities to them, they believed that they were simply transferring their own money from one pocket to another, with the transaction having no impact on their overall obligations.

‘The discovery that the choice of transaction structure had resulted in their being required to pay a little over £5million to a third party must have been highly unwelcome.’

The judge also noted that CMAL was wholly owned by Scottish ministers at all relevant times.

A Government spokesman said: ‘We are aware of a summary judgment made in the English courts in relation to the claim brought by CMAL against HCC.’

The shipyard is constructing two ferries which were originally meant to enter service in 2018 but are still unfinished.

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