Latest news with #RiverClyde
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Ferguson signs navy deal to build warship sections at Port Glasgow
The Ferguson Marine shipyard has signed a contract to build three sections of a Royal Navy warship which is currently under construction on the River shipyard is owned by the Scottish government, and last week a committee of MSPs warned it needed urgent investment to allow it to value of the new contract is unclear - as is the time it will take to Port Glasgow yard only had one contract remaining on its books - to finish off the long-delayed CalMac ferry, MV Glen Rosa. With that vessel due to sail next summer, concerns were growing about what work the yard and its 300-strong workforce would do it has confirmed the signing of a new contract with the defence giant BAE will fabricate three sections of HMS Birmingham - one of the Royal Navy's Type 26 frigates - at Port sections will then be taken to BAE's Govan yard in Glasgow, where the warship is being Port Glasgow yard recently missed out on a government-funded order for seven small CalMac ferries, seen as well-suited to its week, members of Holyrood's public audit committee said leadership and governance failings along with the delays and cost overruns building two CalMac ferries had caused "reputational damage", despite the yard's long and proud MSPs said there was no shortage of potential work, and recovery was possible but it would require investment and better oversight. The Scottish government said it was set to invest up to £14.2m in the yard over the next two government budgets and accounts suggest that over £500m of public money has so far been spent on the yard since it was nationalised in government takeover came after contracts for the two dual-fuel ships, Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, ran into difficulties and ferries procurement body CMAL rejected claims for extra and design challenges continued under public ownership with the cost of the two ships now about £460m if written-off government loans and money paid out prior to nationalisation are included. The original contract price was £ Sannox was finally delivered to CMAL last November, nearly seven years late. The second ship is due by the end of June 2026.
Times
27-06-2025
- Science
- Times
Stop building near the Clyde estuary, flood researchers warn
Plans for new buildings on the low-lying banks of the River Clyde must be halted because they cannot be defended from worsening flooding, scientists have warned. Some prime real estate in the west of Scotland — such as land around Glasgow airport — will be put at risk from rising sea levels, experts have previously said. Now a major study has found that the measures proposed to mitigate this threat, including re-creating 'soft' natural environments such as wetlands and salt marshes to slow down and absorb flood waters, will not be enough to save swathes of the area. Academics from Glasgow University said that avoiding future development 'in the tidal floodplains of large estuaries is the best means of minimising future flood risk in a rapidly warming world'. They said this applied to the UK as well around the world.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- BBC News
Woman charged after van flips on roof in Glasgow crash
A woman has been charged by police after a van flipped on its roof in a crash in the centre of said the incident happened at about 14:00 at a junction on Wallace Street, in the city's Tradeston area, just south of the River crash involved a white security firm van and a grey Fiat 500. The van was left upturned with a set of roof ladders hanging off. The front of the Fiat was smashed in the collision. It is understood that neither of the drivers required medical attention. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "A woman was charged with road traffic offences."
BBC News
23-06-2025
- BBC News
Renfrew bridge closed after possible explosive found
Police have closed the Renfrew Bridge in Glasgow after a possible explosive was found at a nearby building site.A bomb squad has been sent to the scene following the discovery at about 10: force asked motorists and pedestrians to find alternative bridge, linking Renfrew with Yoker and Clydebank, opened to the public in May and became the first new road bridge across the River Clyde in almost two decades. The bridge is part of a £117m project to improve connectivity and regenerate waterfront areas, with the ability to open up for large ships to pass well as a two-lane crossing for drivers, the bridge offers access to cyclists and pedestrians.
BBC News
16-06-2025
- BBC News
'Sugar boat' shipwreck set to sink from view on the River Clyde
It has been a landmark in the River Clyde for more than 50 now the famous "sugar boat" shipwreck between Helensburgh and Greenock is nearing a watery grave, according to local weather throughout the winter, including Storm Éowyn, has accelerated the vessel's Coles, a tour operator specialising in wrecks and dives, told BBC Scotland News that while he previously believed it would take around 30 years before the ship disappeared, he now estimates it will be gone in half that time - at most. The MV Captayannis was struck by strong winds on 27 January 1974, when moored on the Clyde while waiting to waiting to unload raw east African sugar for the Tate & Lyle refinery in the ship drifted, captain Theodorakis Ionnis hoped to reach Gare Loch and find shelter the ship drifted into the anchor chains of a BP tanker called British Light - an incident which ripped a hole in the hull of the Captayannis below the set out to help, and the Captayannis crew were able to escape onto the MV Rover passenger launch - but in the aftermath the ship itself keeled over, where it has remained since. In the years since the accident the ship has become a popular tourist attraction, letting visitors see a real life shipwreck up close, without having to dive into the has also become a home for sea bids and fish, but when Jason Coles travelled to the boat for the time this year, he found it eerily quiet."Everything had been stripped away," he explains. "It didn't look like the sugar boat- there wasn't a bird to be seen, there wasn't even any fish guts lying on it, and a few of the layers of hull had been stripped away as well, showing signs of fracture."The weather was really harsh [over winter], and it looks like the waves have come over the top of the hull and landed on the wreck. It's made such an indentation, it's incredible – the weight of all that water has buckled the main decks." The sugar boat's damage Mr Coles estimated a a crack in the bottom of the hull has quadrupled, while the majority of the hull's starboard side has collapsed inwards and parts of the boat have been torn open from stormy weather. Mr Coles suspects the added damage will make the boat more vulnerable to future bad weather, creating a cycle that will only end when the Captayannis finally sinks for good. He believes that will be a sad sight, as the boat is a local fixture - to the extent a Helensburgh hotel and restaurant are named after is also a link to the past for the west of Scotland as a Coles, who has run his company Wreckspeditions from Dunoon since 2018, said: "The Clyde and Glasgow were the biggest powerhouses in shipbuilding, and I think the sugar industry stopped only a few years after the sinking so it's almost a reminder of when that industry stopped in the Clyde."She's done well to last 50 years, really – everyone thinks of the Clyde as being very sheltered but we do get rough water here and some strong winds. " While the boat was inevitably going to sink eventually, Mr Coles believes the timeline has been sped up drastically. He said: "The difference in the past several months was quite stark. The storms and the weather are becoming more variable and more extreme."I used to say it'd be there for another 20 or 30 years, but after seeing that there's no chance it'll be that long. You're probably talking half of that time, at most."Ownership of the boat has been disputed since the accident, which is partly why it was never salvaged. Mr Coles believes nothing more can be done for the said: "I don't think anything can be done, you can't really protect her. It's just the nature of the beast, the more she gets hit. "I'd love it to be there forever but she will go down at some point - we just have to keep an eye on her and enjoy her while we can."
