Ardrossan harbour now nationalised as sale completes
The harbour will be upgraded to make way for improved ferry service to Arran
Ardrossan Harbour has now been nationalised after the Scottish government completed its acquisition of the port.
Ministers declined to give the sale price when the move was announced on March 18 but a week later Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop revealed it was £16 million.
The sale has been finalised as the Scottish government moves to speed up the harbour’s long-planned upgrade to improve the ferry service to Arran.
The harbour, in North Ayrshire, has been bought from Peel Ports Group for what was initially described as an “undisclosed sum” amid speculation it was £50-80 million.
However, Ms Hyslop said in a letter to the Scottish Parliament’s transport committee on March 25 that the sale price comprised £6m for the assets and £10m for permanent rights to control the harbour area.
She said the valuation took into account the “short, medium, and longer term benefits and deducting £17m for previously committed investment by Peel Ports”.
The port has historically been the main hub for travel to the island, but focus in recent years has shifted to Troon because the newly built Glen Sannox and its long-awaited sister ship the Glen Rosa – which is due to be delivered by the end of the year – cannot dock there because of delays to its upgrade.
Ministers decided to bring the harbour into public ownership to speed up the process, which has yet to even reach the planning stage.
The purchase has been completed by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal) – the Scottish government’s ferry procurement, which arm, which also looks after the country’s west coast ports.
Ms Hyslop said: “The Scottish government has been clear that we want Ardrossan to be the primary mainland port for CalMac ferry services to Arran, so I am pleased that Cmal has today successfully completed the purchase of Ardrossan harbour.
“This purchase will allow for us to focus on redevelopment of the facility as the primary mainland port to Arran.
“Cmal are already considering short-term work to ensure resilient operations whilst Caledonian Isles continues to operate from Ardrossan, and we are committed to funding a two-port service until the major works begin.
“I appreciate all the work, particularly by the Cmal and Peel Ports teams, that has gone into getting us to this point and look forward to delivering a more resilient and reliable ferry service for communities in both Arran and Ardrossan.”
Lewis McIntyre, managing director of Peel Ports, thanked those involved in the negotiations, adding that the sale was “excellent news for the people of Arran and Ardrossan”.
“We wish all the partners the very best, as Ardrossan Harbour enters this new era of public ownership and investment,” he said.
“More importantly, we hope the people who rely on this ferry service can look forward to a positive and stable future.”
Kevin Hobbs, chief executive of Cmal, said the sale “marks an important step” in securing the town as the primary port for Arran.
Cmal, which owns 27 west coast harbours, had said the purchase price was "commercially confidential".
Mr Hobbs told The Scotsman that the immediate improvement works announced by Ms Hyslop last week would start straight away, and without the need to close the harbour.
He said they were to make sure there was no repeat of the "operational outages" which had disrupted sailings in recent years.
Mr Hobbs said: "We want to make the port as resilient as we possibly can in the short to medium term prior to the closure for major redevelopment."
He said that prior to the sale being completed, and with the permission of Peel Ports, a Cmal team had examined the port "and identified a number of things that our standards would say we wanted to fix".
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