Marine technology specialist Kongsberg Maritime has started work on a contract worth £14.4million to install electrical systems on two new ferries being built for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service.
Norwegian-headquartered Kongsberg was handed the contract by shipbuilder Ferguson Maritime Engineering (FMEL), which is constructing the vessels at its yard on the Clyde.
The 330ft-long ferries will be capable of carrying 127 cars or 16 HGVs and up to 1,000 passengers.
The overall construction phase is expected to run until late 2018, at which point the ferries will be delivered to Caledonian Maritime Assets (CMAL) – owner of the vessels, ports and harbours used on the Clyde-Hebrides service.
The service is operated by Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac).
Kongsberg is supplying and installing the electrical, telecom and integrated control systems on the ships.
The firm is also providing project management and engineering services during construction – and will offer on-going support following completion.
Engineers from Kongsberg’s facility in Westhill, Aberdeenshire, are included in the project team.
The company started working on the contract two weeks ago.
Mark Bruce, a business manager at Kongsberg Maritime, said: “This contract signifies the beginning of a working relationship between Kongsberg and Ferguson Marine and one that we hope to develop in the coming years.
“With the vision and investment that Ferguson Marine has shown in the last two years it is an excellent partnership to help deliver high quality vessels with the latest marine technology on board, highlighting the capabilities of Scottish shipbuilding.”
FMEL managing director Liam Campbell said: “Our business aim is to ensure a higher level of innovation and service delivery to ensure our position as one of the best fabrication yards in Europe.
“In order to do that, we have carefully selected key suppliers who are world class, have a reputation for providing state of the art high quality equipment and have a clear focus of delivery on time.
“We look forward to working closely with Kongsberg Maritime to ensure successful delivery of these two ferries and on many future contracts.”