The River Clyde is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland after the River Tay and the River Spey. It runs through the city of Glasgow. The River Clyde estuary has an upper tidal limit located at the tidal weir next to Glasgow Green.
The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre Peninsula. The Firth lies between West Dunbartonshire in the north, Argyll and Bute in the west and Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire in the east. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. The Kyles of Bute separates the Isle of Bute from the Cowal Peninsula. The Sound of Bute separates the islands of Bute and Arran.
Greenock is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east.
Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) was a Scottish shipbuilding consortium, created in 1968 as a result of the amalgamation of five major shipbuilders of the River Clyde. It entered liquidation, with much controversy, in 1971. That led to a "work-in" campaign at the company's shipyards, involving shop stewards Jimmy Airlie and Jimmy Reid, among others.
Port Glasgow is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 states that the population has declined to 15,414. It is located immediately to the east of Greenock and was previously a burgh in the county of Renfrewshire.
Caledonian MacBrayne, in short form CalMac, is the trade name of CalMac Ferries Ltd, the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries to the west coast of Scotland, serving ports on the mainland and 22 of the major islands. It is a subsidiary of holding company David MacBrayne, which is owned by the Scottish Government.
The PSComet was built in 1812 for Henry Bell, a Scottish engineer who with his wife had become proprietor of the Baths Hotel offering sea bathing in Helensburgh. On 15 August 1812, Bell's ship began a passenger service on the River Clyde, connecting Helensburgh to Greenock and Glasgow. This was the first commercially successful steamboat service in Europe. Bell obtained the engine from John Robertson of Glasgow, and the ship was built for him by John and Charles Wood of Port Glasgow.
British Shipbuilders (BS) was a public corporation that owned and managed the shipbuilding industry in Great Britain from 1977 through the 1980s. Its head office was at Benton House in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also operated the nearby Govan shipyard since 1999.
Sir William James Lithgow, 2nd Baronet was a Scottish industrialist and vice-chairman of Lithgow Group. In 1952 he inherited the Scottish shipbuilding company, Lithgows, which was established by his grandfather, William Lithgow. Economic and political changes, especially the nationalisation of British shipbuilding in the 1970s, prevented Sir William from simply continuing the family business, and he therefore led it in new directions, including engineering, salmon farming and other marine and agricultural matters. He described himself as an "industrialist and farmer". Since 1999 his son James has been chairman of the Lithgow Group.
Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire.
Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships.
MV Caledonian Isles, usually referred to locally as Caley Isles, is one of the largest ships operated by Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), which runs ferries to the Hebridean and Clyde Islands of Scotland. Caledonian Isles serves the Isle of Arran on the Ardrossan to Brodick route. As its CalMac's busiest route, Caledonian Isles has the largest passenger capacity in the fleet, and can carry up to 1000 passengers and 110 cars, with a crossing time of 55 minutes. She is used extensively by day-trippers to the Isle of Arran during the summer.
Lithgows Limited is a family-owned Scottish company that had a long involvement in shipbuilding, based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland. It has a continued involvement in marine resources.
Kvaerner Govan Ltd (KGL), located at Govan in Glasgow on the River Clyde, was a shipyard subsidiary formed in 1988 when the Norwegian group Kværner Industrier purchased the Govan Shipbuilders division of the nationalised British Shipbuilders corporation. Prior to the Govan Shipyard's nationalisation in 1977, as a result of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977, it had been operated by Govan Shipbuilders Ltd, which emerged from the collapse of the previous Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) joint venture in 1972. Prior to the formation of UCS in 1968, the Shipyard was operated by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, which had a history extending back to 1834.
James Lamont & Co was a shipbuilder and ship-repairer on the Clyde.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited owns the ferries, ports, harbours and infrastructure for the ferry services serving the west coast of Scotland, the Firth of Clyde and the Northern Isles.
MV Glen Sannox is a car and passenger ferry constructed at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow for the Scottish Government asset company CMAL to lease to its ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne, planned to serve the Ardrossan to Brodick crossing to the Isle of Arran. It is to be the first of two dual-fuel CalMac ferries, capable of operating on either marine gas oil, or LNG which offers a marked reduction in sulphur, nitrous oxide and carbon emissions. The ship's name, chosen from a shortlist by public ballot on 1 June 2017, recalls an earlier Arran ferry. Following a much-delayed construction, she was handed over to Caledonian MacBrayne on 21 November 2024.
MV Glen Rosa is a car and passenger ferry, the second of two major vessels constructed at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow for the Scottish Government asset company CMAL to lease to its ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne. Originally planned for Uig based services, it will serve Arran. Both ships are to be dual-fuel, capable of operating on either marine gas oil, or LNG which offers a marked reduction in sulphur, nitrous oxide and carbon emissions. The ship's name was chosen from a shortlist by public ballot on 30 August 2023.
The Ferry Fiasco refers to the construction, marred by delays and increasing costs, of two ferries; MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa; in Scotland. 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 £450 million.
