A detailed scrutiny of how the Isle of Wight Council procured the troubled Floating Bridge 6 (FB6), will go before a committee next week.
One of the key conclusions in the report is that the procurement of FB6 was sound and there were no issues with procurement, tendering or contracts.
Following numerous issues with the vessel in the nearly four years since it entered service, the Isle of Wight Council decided last year to take action against the shipbuilders and naval architects behind the scheme.
The latest update into where the situation stands with FB6 will be provided at a meeting of the corporate scrutiny committee next Tuesday (March 9) but council officers have set out the background to the procurement of the bridge.
Through tendering processes and site visits, the council were involved with buying and building the new bridge from 2014.
Naval architects, Burness Corlett Three Quays (Southampton) Ltd, were awarded the contract to prepare outline designs, general arrangement and technical specification of FB6 in July 2015.
In the report, an ‘owner’s representative’, who would assist with planning, act as a liaison between the parties on the build, delivery and acceptance trials, as well as look at potential development opportunities was paid £40,000 for 80 days work.
The report explains how of the managing director of the King Harry Ferry (no name given), which connects St Mawes and the Roseland with Feock, Truro and Falmouth, was approved for this role in June 2015 at a cost of £40,000, as he had successfully undertaken a project to fund, design and build a replacement bridge for that service.
The contract to build FB6 was given to Mainstay Marine Solutions Ltd, in January 2016, as evaluators said they had ‘excellent facilities, capabilities, staff and suitable processes to ensure the delivery of the replacement floating bridge.’
Following a period last year where the vessel was out of action for 98 days, an expert report was apparently delayed due to the reluctance of one party to provide documents. The final expert report was received last month.
Council leader, Dave Stewart, has continued to say legal action, through mediation, is ongoing but in his latest update said the process was delayed due to one party contracting Covid-19.
In the officers’ report, they say the council was ready to begin the litigation process in January but if an agreement could not be reached at mediation, or if the parties were unwilling to enter mediation, the council would need to issue court proceedings.
The report concludes by asking the scrutiny committee to note there were ‘no issues with the approach taken to procurement, tendering and contracting’ and that they cannot delve deeper into the efforts made to resolve FB6’s challenges until the legal action is concluded.
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