Brexit ferry contract awarded to company with no ships

Gadgetman496 · 31-12-2018 1:28am #1

This is part of the 108m spent on contracts in the event of a no Brexit.

https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2018/1230/1019649-brexit-ferry-contract/

katiek102010 · 31-12-2018 1:35am

They are idiots m. Nothing surprises me anymore

expectationlost · 31-12-2018 1:44am

Gadgetman496 wrote: »

This is part of the 108m spent on contracts in the event of a no Brexit.

https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2018/1230/1019649-brexit-ferry-contract/

i actually think this story is really overblown, first thing on the BBC 10 news?, so a port with no current ferries might be getting a service set up by experienced ferry operators who are setting a company up to do a specific job. so ....

Atlantic Dawn · 31-12-2018 1:50am

It's easy to subcontract ferries. If you look at Irish Ferries they don't have a single ferry registered in Ireland.

namloc1980 · 31-12-2018 1:54am

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

It's easy to subcontract ferries. If you look at Irish Ferries they don't have a single ferry registered in Ireland.

They own their ferries at least, they are simply registered in Cyprus/Bahamas. The crowd who won the Brexit contract don't own a dinghy let alone a ferry.

Raheem Euro · 31-12-2018 2:20am

Don't pay the Ferry Man.

Ficheall · 31-12-2018 2:21am

expectationlost wrote: »

i actually think this story is really overblown, first thing on the BBC 10 news?, so a port with no current ferries might be getting a service set up by experienced ferry operators who are setting a company up to do a specific job. so ....

The company had, (if I recall the news report correctly - otherwise figures may be off), assets of £66, and now they've been given a £14000000 contract. Their website has claims about existing routes that do not exist. The company has never run something like this (if anything) before. This is as crooked a deal as they come. Are you a politician?

L1011 · 31-12-2018 2:23am

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

It's easy to subcontract ferries. If you look at Irish Ferries they don't have a single ferry registered in Ireland.

Irish Ferries own all their boats, bar the Epsilon, and the boats of quite a few other companies too. Large leasing operation, container operation, etc.

An actually established operator would, at most, set up a SPV for this - not a completely separate company with spurious info.

endacl · 31-12-2018 2:25am

Brexit just keeps on getting funnier....

darragh o meara · 31-12-2018 2:29am

A certain business man here never laid a single meter but somehow won a contract to install them in every house in Ireland ðŸ˜€

The Brit’s aren’t too unlike us at all.

Raheem Euro · 31-12-2018 2:32am

Ownership is just a financial arrangement.

Lot's of businesses hire plant or equipment.

Having the experience, skill sets and structures to efficiently deploy that capital is the important factor.

katiek102010 · 31-12-2018 3:20am

They seemingly want to operate from Ramsgate

Ramsgate doesn’t have the infrastructure and even the local Tory Council are querying what due diligence has been done prior to awarding the contract

prinzeugen · 31-12-2018 4:23am

Non story. Its just more of the usual crap that RTE have come out with about Brexit.

You dont have to own a boat to operate a ferry. Just like you dont need to own a plane to operate an airline.

When Virgin Atlantic started all their aircraft were leased.

There are hundreds if not thousands of ships sitting idle at sea "awaiting orders" (work). Take the Russian cargo ship that ran aground in Cornwall a few weeks back. It was sitting there on the of chance someone would charter it.

Ramsgate does have the infrastructure as most old ports on the south coast do. What condition its in is anybody's guess. Plenty of it was kept on a "care and maintenance" basis by the military until about 1990.

[Deleted User] · 31-12-2018 4:39am

You get industry pros who can nimbly put together a temporary workforce and equipment for a specific event.

Here's some details of the two-person company that was rebuilding the electricity grid in Puerto Rico.
https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/the-latest-whitefish-disappointed-contract-is-cancelled

They already had 350 people there, before people who don't understand the logistical problem of an established company somehow sending hundreds of it's staff to Puerto Rico for a few months, cancelled the contract.

People love to believe it's some friend of a politician or something. How exactly would some random guy get 350 people to Puerto Rico and get work done? How could some random guy manage to get a shipping network up and running under intense public scrutiny?

quokula · 31-12-2018 4:45am

prinzeugen wrote: »

There are hundreds if not thousands of ships sitting idle at sea "awaiting orders" (work). Take the Russian cargo ship that ran aground in Cornwall a few weeks back. It was sitting there on the of chance someone would charter it.

Would it not make sense then to give the contract to a company who has every in their history at least chartered one of these ships? If such activity is so common it's a bit odd that the UK government chose to give the contract to a company that has never done it before, in addition to having no boats of its own.

Raheem Euro · 31-12-2018 4:50am

I presume EU Public Procurement Tendering proceedures had to be followed for this (ironically) and the awardee scored highest in that competition.

realitykeeper · 31-12-2018 4:54am

Gadgetman496 wrote: »

This is part of the 108m spent on contracts in the event of a no Brexit.

https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2018/1230/1019649-brexit-ferry-contract/

At first I thought the title was a sarcastic reference to the migrants crossing the channel in small boats, sinse they are going to the UK despite Brexit and without the use of a ship.

anotherfinemess · 31-12-2018 5:04am

Why hasn't our government made arrangements for shipping between mainland Europe and Ireland post brexit?

[Deleted User] · 31-12-2018 5:07am

quokula wrote: »

Would it not make sense then to give the contract to a company who has every in their history at least chartered one of these ships? If such activity is so common it's a bit odd that the UK government chose to give the contract to a company that has never done it before, in addition to having no boats of its own.

Occam's Razor would suggest that the people involved are industry veterans with plenty of experience, and have the right people lined up.

Would you question a new company set up by Michael O'Leary taking a contract to fly in medicine?

quokula · 31-12-2018 5:31am

Ads by Google wrote: »

Occam's Razor would suggest that the people involved are industry veterans with plenty of experience, and have the right people lined up.

Would you question a new company set up by Michael O'Leary taking a contract to fly in medicine?

I would question the government handing over millions to a new company that was formed by some members of Ryanair's middle management, which has in two years not flown or chartered a single plane or hired any crew, with the expectation they will be running regular flights three months from now.

Raheem Euro · 31-12-2018 5:42am

quokula wrote: »

I would question the government handing over millions to a new company that was formed by some members of Ryanair's middle management, which has in two years not flown or chartered a single plane or hired any crew, with the expectation they will be running regular flights three months from now.

You think they'd be paid in advance?
That payment wouldn't be linked to measurable performance targets?

In tendering for the contract o leary and co would have to give detail on their plan to get those flights running. I would expect the govt to analyse that plan carefully and carry out due diligence. If they bypassed or messed up this step either through incompetence or shady dealings and the project hit the rocks, then, and only then, would the govt come in for criticism. And heads should roll. Otherwise there's no problem.

[Deleted User] · 31-12-2018 8:01am

quokula wrote: »

I would question the government handing over millions to a new company that was formed by some members of Ryanair's middle management, which has in two years not flown or chartered a single plane or hired any crew, with the expectation they will be running regular flights three months from now.

I doubt this company's owners have been sitting doing absolutely nothing for the last couple of years. They're likely in the best position to get that port open again having been involved with it, and they're likely still working in the industry.

I mean, the fact they got the contract tells you it's not some regular folks who have a five-page business plan. They are surely known in the industry, and the media is just going to town on it, like they did with the Puerto Rico bunch.

Really, I haven't even looked into it apart from a browse of OP's link. It just seems rather obvious.

judeboy101 · 31-12-2018 8:23am

Raheem Euro wrote: »

I presume EU Public Procurement Tendering proceedures had to be followed for this (ironically) and the awardee scored highest in that competition.

Exceptional circumstances clause allows them to circumvent, ironic or what.

Infini · 31-12-2018 8:38am

endacl wrote: »

Brexit just keeps on getting funnier....

ChikiChiki · 31-12-2018 8:42am

anotherfinemess wrote: »

Why hasn't our government made arrangements for shipping between mainland Europe and Ireland post brexit?

I'd be critical of our government on their handling of a lot our issues but one thing they have impressed me on is Brexit. Playing a blinder looking after our interests.

The Satanist · 31-12-2018 8:46am

Lidl and Aldi will have dinghys on sale soon. Problem solved. Rule Britannia.

AndyBoBandy · 31-12-2018 9:06am

anotherfinemess wrote: »

Why hasn't our government made arrangements for shipping between mainland Europe and Ireland post brexit?

They have.

Did you not see in the news a few months ago the massive new ‘Brexit Buster’ ship that will be sailing from Irish to mainland EU ports, bypassing the U.K. altogether?

It’s the largest RO-RO ferry in the world. Officially christened by Leo Varadkar

https://www.google.ie/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjOrILQzcnfAhXltYsKHWDjDpUQzPwBegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fbrexit-busting-ferry-launched-from-dublin-port-1.3468760&psig=AOvVaw3NnNMMetJVhz66LIs0Fiqh&ust=1546329823649074

_Brian · 31-12-2018 9:30am

It’s as if they are looking about for the most absurd decisions to make to look even stupider by the day.

It’s odd watching a country self destruct like this, the only concern of course is the bigger mess they make of this the more knock on effect there is on us here, we will feel their mess more than any other country bar themselves.

First Up · 31-12-2018 9:47am

anotherfinemess wrote:

Why hasn't our government made arrangements for shipping between mainland Europe and Ireland post brexit?

Because they don't need to. The commercial shipping operators are doing it.

AndyBoBandy · 31-12-2018 9:55am

First Up wrote: »

Because they don't need to. The commercial shipping operators are doing it.

And in turn, the Government are modifying the ports to handle these larger ships.

expectationlost · 31-12-2018 11:40am

Ficheall wrote: »

The company had, (if I recall the news report correctly - otherwise figures may be off), assets of £66, and now they've been given a £14000000 contract. Their website has claims about existing routes that do not exist. The company has never run something like this (if anything) before. This is as crooked a deal as they come. Are you a politician?

I saw that so they set up their website to say what they will do... so what.

Brexit ferry contract awarded to company with no ships

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