A shipbuilding firm which received millions of pounds of public funding to develop an electric ferry serving Papa Stour has entered administration.
Coastal Workboats Scotland Ltd was behind plans for the E-Luv boat, which was initially planned to trial on the west of Shetland last year.
However, those plans were shelved as the company sought to explore the ferry’s suitability on other routes.
Now, it has emerged the Stornoway-based firm has collapsed with the loss of five jobs and with five vessels left unfinished.
The UK government had awarded the company £6.2m to build the UK’s first fully electric ferry for inter-island routes.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise also awarded the shipbuilders £167,000 to fund robotic welding equipment in support of the project.
Administrators FRP Advisory said the company suffered “financial challenges through last year, in part due to design issues and supply chain delays”.
Michelle Elliot, partner at FRP and joint administrator, said: “Coastal Workboats Scotland Limited operated in a highly specialised and capital-intensive sector and faced a combination of technical, commercial and funding challenges.
“Our immediate priority has been to support affected employees and to maximise realisations from the Company’s remaining assets in order to achieve the best possible outcome for creditors.”
Ahead of the proposed Papa Stour trial, Coastal Workboats said the vessel would have run twice a day, five days a week, with each crossing taking around 45 minutes.
The company said the trial would “prove their concept to the industry in a real-world application – electric powered boats are currently restricted to pleasure boats”.
After the trial was abandoned, people in Papa Stour expressed relief.
The community had been against the trial with many folk saying the rough crossing between West Burrafirth and Papa Stour was not suitable for such a vessel.
