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Sunday 30 October 2022

Diesel to the rescue



Scotland's 'green' ferry to begin service using diesel fuel

One of the ferries in a controversial Scottish government contract will initially only operate on diesel - despite being built to also run with liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Glen Sannox is one of two delayed and overbudget dual-fuel vessels.

Builder Ferguson Marine has told MSPs a "technical issue" had delayed part of the LNG system by at least nine months.

The vessel was once hailed as a step towards a greener future for Scotland's state-owned CalMac ferry fleet.

I'm not sure what a 'green' ferry is. Partly green perhaps, but everything is partly green. Why not be more ambitious and go for sails? Maybe then it would be a green 'ferry'.  

12 comments:

DiscoveredJoys said...

Just get the passengers to man the oars. It will be a penalty for the wrongthink of wanting to travel.

The Jannie said...

Read the article then read the links in it: another SNP carve-up? (Steps back in amazement and waits for tricky Nicky to spout the excuses)

Scrobs. said...

Isn't a green ferry one that runs on liquefied gas which has been transported over from the US via a diesel-driven tanker!

Speed bonny boat...

Sam Vega said...

Well, there's "The Green Fairy". Absinthe. They could try running it on that.

A K Haart said...

DJ - whips and galley masters would speed things along.

Jannie - stories like this make me pleased to be south of the border. Not that it seems to be an overwhelming improvement.

Scrobs - and would it be even greener if it ran on wood pellets transported from the US via a diesel-driven ship?

A K Haart said...

Sam - that's an excellent idea. They could change the name of the ferry to "The Green Fairy" too.

dearieme said...

@Scrobs: LNG tankers run (or used to run) on the gas that slowly evaporates from the cargo. I dare say they carry diesel too, but that's just a guess.

Scrobs. said...

I didn't know that EM, but it makes sense of course!

I wonder if Greta knows...

Peter MacFarlane said...

It's worth taking a bit of time to dig into the details of the Great Caledonian Ferry Fiasco.

The story is far too long even to start in a blog comment, but the mind-blowing levels of incompetence, venality, and corruption that you'll find are truly astonishing.

And these are the people who want to run a country!

A K Haart said...

Peter - thanks for the link - what a mess. Even a quick scan shows political expediency appearing to override every practical consideration, as if the people making the political decisions are genuinely deranged.

Doonhamer said...

I am sure there will be full inquiry. Along the lines of the inquiry into the Edinburgh tram fiasco.
Initial cost estimate for "a tram system" was 375 million for 17 miles of track.
Ended up approaching 1000 million for 15000 yards of line.
The cost of the inquiry into that farce has gone over 12 million after running for eight years with no end in sight. Jarndyce and Jarndyce, eat your heart out.

A K Haart said...

Doonhamer - they need time to compile a report which is so vast that nobody could possibly read it.