Liverpool Yard Wins Ferry Contract
Liverpool, UK, shipbuilder, Cammell Laird, wins first complete ship building contract for 20 years
Cammell Laird has won a multi-million contract to build two ferries that are hoping to restore the Wirral shipyard to its former glory. The firm was appointed by Western Ferries as the preferred bidder beating off competition from Europe to build the vessels for the Gourock to Dunoon route in Scotland.
Western Ferries announced that the bid from the Wirral based yard have offered "crucial" and "competitive" advantages to building the two ferries in the UK. The contract means engineers on Wirral will build the first two complete vessels at the Birkenhead yard since the completion of the nuclear submarine HMS Unicorn in 1993.
Cammell Laird has a rich heritage in the shipbuilding industry and the HMS Ark Royal and Cunard's second Mauretania were built at the 130 acre site on the banks of the Mersey. The company was founded by ironmonger William Laird and his son John in 1828.