From Cornwall News today:
Another delay for new Isles of Scilly ferry service launch as boss quits. It looks like a total meltdown as it’s the second time the start up of the new company’s new crossings have been postponed within only a few hours.
A planned new ferry service to the Isles of Scilly has hit choppy waters as its boss quit and it has now postponed its launch by over a week. The first Scilly Ferries crossing from Penzance was due to take place on Monday (July 22) but, as reported by CornwallLive was earlier today postponed to the next day.
Now it appears to have been pushed back by seven more days to July 30 – the soonest passengers are currently able to book on the Atlantic Wolff catamaran via the company’s website – Scilly Ferries having been created as part of shipbuilder Harland & Wolff (H&W), which is behind the whole ferry operation. The change has occurred within the past hour, as trips were bookable for Monday early this morning and then from Tuesday onward later this morning.
And the chaos follows the resignation of H&W’s chief executive as it emerged that the firm, which operates the Appledore shipyard in north Devon, will not receive a government loan guarantee. John Wood was said to be “taking a leave of absence from his role as CEO with immediate effect”.
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/another-delay-new-isles-scilly-9424370
Meanwhile Scotland’s CalMac ferry with 34 vessels serving 50 locations is at 95.4% reliability.
Talking-up Scotland 
This is just the latest confusion in what has been a long-running tussle between the Westminster government (with its levelling-up funding), the existing ferry operator (the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group) and the prospective ferry operator (Harland & Wolf Group/Scilly Ferries).
Given the heat generated in the BBC and mainstream media in Scotland over ferry design, it’s interesting that the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group – the company with long operational experience – has decided to replace its existing, ageing fleet with new monohull ferries . Design work on the vessels was undertaken by the French shipbuilder Piriou in collaboration with Netherlands-based Van Oossanen Naval Architects. The ships will be built by Piriou Vietnam. These new vessels are being financed by private capital only.
By contrast , the Harland & Wolf Group/Scilly Ferries who plan to compete on the Scilly-Cornwall service have opted to use a catamaran on the same route. I understand the company had wished to finance its entry into this market with £48m of government levelling up funding that has not yet been allocated. The main blog post indicates that plans may now be in jeopardy due to problems with a government loan guarantee.
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Hybrid vessels in Aberdeen harbour. Hybrid ferries viable. Investment into ship building in Scotland. Investment in Scottish economy.
Innovation costs money but saves in fuel costs. £Billions over time.
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