The Scotsman - Business - Ferguson closure another nail in the coffin for the Clyde

re: "WITH the announcement of the closure of one of the last remaining Clyde shipyards - with the loss of 75 jobs - expected today, one of Europe's leading maritime transport experts has blamed the decline of the Clyde shipyards on "unenlightened and uncompetitive" government policy and "lack of a proper maritime strategy"...[snip]..."The demise of Ferguson has been delayed by CalMac, which gave it a £5.8 million ferry order a year or so back, but CalMac couldn't save them because they only order one ship at a time rather than make use of economies of scale like any properly-run operator. /"Why don't they? Because, as a state-owned operator, CalMac doesn't have any shareholders to answer to so it doesn't have to be efficient."...[snip]... Speaking from Athens, where he is attending an international shipping conference, [Dr Alf] Baird said yesterday that the unions had "shot themselves in the foot" as their "strike-driven outlook meant the labour situation on the Clyde got ridiculous"..."...