POLE AXED

State-owned firm loses in bid for contract to East European rival

- BY ANDREW QUINN

A SHIPYARD on the Clyde has suffered a “huge blow” after a contract to build seven new ferries was handed to Poland.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) announced it had snubbed publicly-owned Ferguson Marine and handed preferred bidder status for the vessels to a Polish yard.

Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdansk scored the highest in the tender process, which used a weighting of 65-35 per cent in terms of technical and financial criteria to assess the bids.

Contracts are hoped to be finalised following a 10-day “standstill period”.