Member Info for dawski37

OK --agree of course ..BUT if we do not get to pick the "Cherry" than we will just have to ask Starmer & Co to support us with our truly fabulous and exciting plans for the new Royal Yacht. Only Kidding of course !

" Turnover is Vanity, Profit is Sanity "

Lottie --well done indeed .This one could well give us a boost before the eventual result of the interminable JR !! If Appledore does not succeed it will be a very poor show for U.K. Plc IMHO !!

If they do succeed then it will provide not just a boost for us lot here but also the local economy and reward the foresight of those who took the chance with a former great yard. A highly important decision !

Sadly ,most unlikely to be for H&W. The Adamas has come from Varberg in Sweden and is carrying timber .Indeed it is tied up at the timber discharge berth inside Methil Docks which is the only active part of the system as the rest is derelict. There is a smallish fish processing area ( with a bit of a stink !!) and some delapidated sheds used for open storage of motor cars .I was up there 3 weeks ago and the only activity was a small flock of Eider Ducks !!. There was an enormous amount of timber all in plastic white sheeting strewn around the Northern area of dock. The staff of Forth Ports ( who own and manage the site ) could not comment on activity at our former Bifab yard and like other posters here little activity could be discerned .

Do have a look at the dock layout on Google Earth. Methil was formerly a vibrant dock dealing with the export of coal from Glenrothes and the coastal area of Fife but is now a shadow of its former self of course. Our quayside is visible alongside our sheds but is shared with an adjacent operator . An excellent aerial shot of the whole yard appears on our web site !There is also a large wind turbine structure nearby which shows up well on the Google map. Maybe all will be revealed soon ?!! Hope so !

Sorry to harp on a bit about this site but we are in the dark. In Mid-February I recall Morningstar reporting that JW indicated that "he expected Methil to begin fabrication on four barges in tandem within the next two weeks ,in line with Company policy/strategy of operating across multiple facilities and balancing work as well as skill sets between the yards."

So here were are some 4 months on and no sign of any progress just as we never were able to assess what really went on with the "failed" Saipem contract. At least we seemed to have escaped from that with minimal significant cost and treated it as "a helpful learning curve "!

Do have a look at the Morningstar article 17th Feb. 2023 9.19 a.m. Some news would be great now at 10 SP basement bargain level ...in fact any news !!

Broomtree --I have looked up and read your highly informative posts with quite some relish .Highly informative, considered and researched if I may say so .

Two things a lot of us LTH's will agree :

1. There is far too much dross tittle tattle and bickering here which needs to be ignored/removed /filtered as it takes up far too much space and obscures the factual info which is why most of us are here to share.

2. Like you, we need some "meat on the bones" as regards "what the H**L is going on" NOW in the yards .Yes, certain commercially information has to be kept under wraps but we have no idea or clue months on about M55 and Methil in particular -Stena have swopped over to Birkenhead but that may be down to capacity ?

Please keep up your most valued postings !Not a good day ..maybe better tomorrow after the bottom ?

Hoping so --Maybe they were hoping for the good news on Friday ...but that it simply did not materialise in time. Of course it could be more bad news but most unlikely in view of the tone of the report .

The sort of news to cheer us all up would be some updates about progress on M55 and its sister tub at Appledore ( and dare I say again ) a significant order from a former customer of the yard .Something to give us confidence about Methil such as progress on transferring a few C barges over the border. Also something to do with following on from the confidence shown by JW on the chances of defeating the JR ( total time wasting disaster that such has been ) i.e. use of part of the caverns for Hydrogen storage, Hydrogen being the big buzz word again today with BMW favouring the science involved for its new vehicle ranges !

So will another Red Spot tomorrow bring us the Blue ?!!!

Good one, LWHL at 10.12 today .Always best to balance any quote. I've already said that Friday's tardy posting was damning. When results are due out on the day ,UNLESS there is some good reason to the contrary ,it's always wise to announce in good time beforehand. As Mr. Speedy Cop will say " Just because it's a 30 mph limit ,there is no need to go 30 all the way !

I am hoping that there may be some good news about to hit and that could be the reason for Friday's debacle. I would like to see ( amongst others) a possible contract for Appledore for Scillonian 4 and sister ships, news from Methil ( bit of a disaster site so far ?) and some activity in BD at Belfast unless "all hands are on deck " finishing the Cory barges !

Remember that I.M. pre-FEED is set up for Hydrogen Storage and could be linked to the new BP/Energie Baden-Wurtenberg wind farm in the Irish Sea when excess energy is available from the same . Maybe JW was hoping for good positive news such as these on the day but it just did not happen in time ?

Finally as a side ,the List of Significant Shareholders needs updating on the Webby page yet again ,just to see which of the II's are still on board and who has moved on despite the TR1's in the year .Like LWHL I reckon that there may be something newsworthy imminent otherwise Friday remains a P.R. disaster !!

H&W is like a jigsaw --there are so many pieces still missing in the 5 year plan !

Kaeren --not just "not remotely amusing " but highly alarming for all as per the volume and nature of the posts today. These include a number of fellow LTI's and having not yet read the belated RNS issued out of hours now ,I do not easily see any news about the barges ,the vulnerable Methil site, the possible order from an old customer for Appledore etc etc ..all a bit wishy washy and padded ..BUT as I say this is a first glance and I am away now for a jolly weekend so the detail can wait til Monday. As Kaeren says, without any plausible reason for the appalling late news cast, not a good P.R. day for us P.I.'s at all ..most worrying and highly damaging -no doubt those with eagle eyes will report their more fulsome findings and judgements later !!

Xenor --a brilliant and extremely well times article (today at 10.48) and resume of what JW said in 2021.

As you will agree, there is so much utter drivel and bickering nonsense now on this ( otherwise informative) board that your posts are very welcome.

There are still many of us on this board who have been invested for quite some time (myself included !)

We have been here since as long ago as Portland Gas Plc days down in Dorset which then morphed into Infa.

Infa's project was and still is a highly attractive proposition .It then hit the buffers and along comes JW and AR to sort the stalled project out. JW realised pretty quickly that it was going to be a long haul with objections to the Planning and did not want "a one trick pony" .

Being a bit of a so called "chancer" he and AR ( literally one man and his dog at the time) took a fair punt of H&W followed by Appledore and then Methil and Arnish of course.

Now the point is that IM has suffered immeasurably from bureaucratic and other delays --Planning appeals, delays at Stormont, the interminable JR procedure and now the decision timetable. Some say that the result may be known very soon before the start of the lawyer's Summer recess ,some say early Autumn.

Whatever ,we have to respect the objector's rights and due legal process but the lawyers (the Judge) also need to be considering commercial reality...and if the JR has a simple positive result for us then produce the decision sooner than later .I.M. is the reason why we are here ....all the rest has just followed on !!

This beauty of an "old tub" sadly is now reaching Falmouth probably for the 12 month refit story that appeared on Twitter some days ago and which was quoted as scheduled for Belfast . Never mind, A&P hold the contact for this ageing vessel and after all Belfast has loads of work in hand !! News on the barges will be welcome later this week...Stena Line seem to be favouring Cammel L's now again, hopefully because we have no available capacity ???

So very true, Stokey, dear friend -it would certainly have been something of a coup but best to leave A&P at Falmouth or even Birkenhead continue with its connections and contracts whilst we press on with Cory Barges and get ourselves shipshape (Belfast fashion this time !) for the big'un xx

Good one and professionally informative, Kaeran. Good to see such posting here ...for a change ! Just hoping that RFA Argus will return from Scottyland for a supposed 12 month refit as per the spurious posting on LinkedIn ? Or was that just fake news ?!!

Good News Indeed !! Our dear friend TTNY has just appraised me of the imminent arrival this week of this beauty at SRQ as now shown on the Belfast Harbour Site. Well spotted and noted, TTNY. He may be posting more information shortly but it is of course Norwegian owned and has just off loaded a cargo at Finnart and a sister ship has been with us previously (all according to the notorious ship spotter that is TTNY !) I had become a little worried about dockings but as Chris has mentioned last week as we near month end with hopefully a news update about new contracts and progress with the barges both at Belfast and at Methil ( possibly !) and also news re the JR + also with the first decent uplift in SP today for a while ....you never know with this one !!!

..............or even better....How's about a Blue Month instead ......maybe not tomorrow but coming your way in May or June ,Dawski The Ramper !!

Excellent ..much appreciated,Chris !

Chris ..will be great to hear what is happening at Methil and whether we have our security deposit back ..it was a significant sum !!

Lottie …we all like it when you are so positive ! Yes, fully agree with you about “ the rather wayward “ site at Methil which I visited 2 years ago ..Huge site with great water access to the Firth of Forth but plagued with issues over alleged rusty steel delivered per Saipem, then Saipem itself getting into hot bother and messing us about ,then some Portuguese casual labour problems and also Mr.Taxman would you believe !
Just hope that we have had our Security Bond back by now from Saipem ….as you rightly say Methil is ideally placed and situated for a Scotwind bonus this year ….if not, something is in need of correction up there but i am fully confident having met the very experienced manager and staff on the site that it will get sorted !!Remember that getting our feet in Methil after the debacle of Bifab and Mrs Crankie was a potential humdinger of a winner for JW and team !!

Historical !!

Hmm..the later video of a “car crash “ compilation was accidental ( due to my lack of I.T. skills!) and was not intended to convey any negative impression or message …honest ..Keep the Faith !!

One may be tempted to say that this would be ideal for JW to hire out but me thinks that is a bit “below the belt”.
As I have said many times before …..without JW ,AR and others’ foresight determination ( against some incredible odds ) none of us would be chatting here …it has been a rough voyage indeed as witnessed this week but hang on to the mainsail and ..******* !!