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Scottish Ferry Fiasco
The Scottish ferry fiasco is the political scandal surrounding the construction of the ferries and in Scotland, which has been marred by delays and increasing costs. The ferries are being built by Ferguson Marine, for the state-owned ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne under direction of Caledonian Maritime Assets (CMA), Transport Scotland, and the Scottish Government. Originally intended to come into service in 2018 and 2019 respectively, both ferries have been delayed by over five years, and costs have more than quadrupled to £460 million. The contract required the ships to have Marine LNG Engine, dual fuel engines, to use both Fuel oil#marine gas oil, marine gas oil diesel fuel, and liquefied natural gas which was already in use for ferries in northern Europe, such as the Samsø ferry, to meet tightened emissions regulation. Ferguson Marine director Jim McColl later said the ferries were UK "prototypes", and that delays had been incurred in getting certification for Ferguson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferry Deal Set To Create New Jobs
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. Ferries form a part of the public transport systems of many waterside cities and islands, allowing direct transit between points at a capital cost much lower than bridges or tunnels. Ship connections of much larger distances (such as over long distances in water bodies like the Baltic Sea) may also be called ferry services, and many carry vehicles. History The profession of the ferryman is embodied in Greek mythology in Charon, the boatman who transported souls across the River Styx to the Underworld. Speculation that a pair of oxen propelled a ship having a water wheel can be found in 4th century Roman literature "''Anonymus De Rebus Bellicis''". Though impractical, there is no reason why it could not work and such a ferry, modified by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotland Ferries Map
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent Islands of Scotland, islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its Anglo-Scottish border, only land border, which is long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,439,842. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the most populous of the cities of Scotland. The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI succeeded to the thrones of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, forming a personal union of the Union of the Crowns, three kingdo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faslane
His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It is the navy's headquarters in Scotland and is best known as the home of Britain's nuclear weapons, in the form of nuclear submarines armed with Trident missiles. History Faslane was first constructed and used as a base in the Second World War. During the 1960s, the British Government began negotiating the Polaris Sales Agreement with the United States regarding the purchase of a Polaris missile system to fire British-built nuclear weapons from five specially constructed submarines. In the end, only four were constructed; , , and . These four submarines were permanently based at Faslane. Faslane itself was chosen to host these vessels at the height of the Cold War because of its geographic position, which forms a bastion on the relati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early Middle Ages, medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Kingdom of France, France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the English Navy of the early 16th century; the oldest of the British Armed Forces, UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service. From the early 18th century until the World War II, Second World War, it was the world's most powerful navy. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire, and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy's ability to assert naval superior ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronnie Cowan (politician)
Ronald Jack Cowan (born 6 September 1959) is a Scottish politician and member of the Scottish National Party. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Inverclyde from 2015 until 2024. Early life and career Cowan was born in Greenock to Jimmy Cowan, a former Greenock Morton and Scotland footballer, and his wife, May. He was educated at Greenock Academy and, despite growing up in a Labour Party-supporting household, joined the Scottish National Party at the age of 16. After leaving school, Cowan worked as a trainee computer operator at Playtex in Port Glasgow. Before standing for parliament, Cowan was the owner of an IT service company. During the campaign for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, he ran the official "Yes" campaign in Inverclyde. Political career At the 2015 election, Cowan overturned the 5,838-vote majority of incumbent Labour MP Iain McKenzie and turned it into a 11,063 majority for the SNP. He was re-elected in the snap election of 2017, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Member Of Parliament (United Kingdom)
In the United Kingdom, a Member of Parliament (MP) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Electoral system All 650 members of the UK House of Commons are elected using the first-past-the-post voting system in single member United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituencies across the whole of the United Kingdom, where each constituency has its own single representative. Elections All MP positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on a five-year cycle, or when a snap election is called. Since the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, Parliament is automatically dissolved once five years have elapsed from its first meeting after an election. If a Vacancy (economics), vacancy arises at another time, due to death or Resignation from the British House of Commons, resignation, then a constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. It is represented by 419 of the 1,227 local councillors across Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom and for Scotland's membership in the European Union, with a platform based on progressive social policies and civic nationalism. Founded in 1934 with the amalgamation of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party, the party has had continuous parliamentary List of Scottish National Party MPs, representation in Westminster since Winnie Ewing won the 1967 Hamilton by-election. With the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999, the SNP became the second-largest party, serving two terms as the Opposition (parliamentary), opposition. The SNP gaine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inverclyde
Inverclyde (, , , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which currently exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area. Inverclyde is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders the North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire council areas, and is otherwise surrounded by the Firth of Clyde. Inverclyde was formerly one of nineteen districts within Strathclyde Region, from 1975 until 1996. Prior to 1975, Inverclyde was governed as part of the local government county of Renfrewshire, comprising the burghs of Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock, and the former fifth district of the county. Its landward area is bordered by the Kelly, North and South Routen burns to the southwest (separating Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire), part of the River Gryfe and the Finlaystone Burn to the south-east. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harris, Outer Hebrides
Harris (, ) is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to in opposition to the ''Isle of Lewis'' as the Isle of Harris, which is the former postal county and the current post town for Royal Mail postcodes starting HS3 or HS5. The civil parish of Harris is considered to include St Kilda, a now uninhabited archipelago west-northwest of North Uist, and the uninhabited islet Rockall, which is west of North Uist. Etymology The Vikings arrived in the British Isles from the late 700s, and in the Northern Isles and Western Isles of Scotland they named places as part of their conquest. Documents from several centuries ago show the Isle of Harris being referred to as Haray or Harray, Here or Herre, Herrie, and the plural Harreis; as well as possibly related place names such as Harris on the isle of Rum; Herries in Dumfries; Harray on Orkney; and Harrastad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Uist
North Uist (; ) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Etymology In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist are described as one island of ''Ywst'' (Uist). Starting in the south of this 'island', he described the division between South Uist and Benbecula where "the end heirof the sea enters, and cuts the countrey be ebbing and flowing through it". Further north of Benbecula he described North Uist as "this countrey is called Kenehnache of Ywst, that is in Englishe, the north head of Ywst".''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides''; Monro, Donald, 1549 Some have taken the etymology of Uist from Old Norse, meaning "west", much like Westray in Orkney. Another speculated derivation of Uist from Old Norse is ', derived from ' meaning "an abode, dwelling, domicile". A Gaelic etymology is also possible, with ' meaning "Crossings-island" or "Fords-isl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skye
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the country. Slesser (1981) p. 19. Although has been suggested to describe a winged shape, no definitive agreement exists as to the name's origin."Gaelic Culture" . VisitScotland. Retrieved 5 January 2013. The island has been occupied since the period, and over its history has been occupied at various times by Celtic tribes includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Scottish National Party (Scottish National Party, SNP) on two occasions, from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. He then served as leader of the Alba Party from 2021 until his death in 2024. A graduate of the University of St Andrews, he worked as an economist in the Scottish Office, and later, the Royal Bank of Scotland. He was elected to the British House of Commons in 1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987, serving as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Banff and Buchan (UK Parliament constituency), Banff and Buchan from 1987 to 2010. In 1990, he successfully defeated Margaret Ewing in the 1990 Scottish National Party leadership election, SNP leadership contest. Salmond led the party through the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
