Jobs at a North Devon closure-threatened shipyard could be saved if ministers agree a new ferry to the Isles of Scilly is to be built there. Appledore Shipyard in North Devon is scheduled to close in March 2019 with the loss of 200 jobs. The news that the shipyard will close next year has come as a blow to the area after Babcock International, the shipyard’s owners, announced they had taken the “difficult decision to exit operations” at Appledore, ending its site lease in March 2019. It came days after hundreds of people marched in Bideford in the hope to save the shipyard while some 8,000 people also signed a petition to keep the shipyard going. Now the Friends of Isles of Scilly Transport (FRIST) believe the shipyard has the potential to be saved if central government agrees on the construction of a new ferry to the islands and have the Scillonian IV built it at the North Devon facility. The group has called on Derek Thomas, the MP for St Ives and Geoffrey Cox QC, the MP for Torridge and West Devon to seek support from Nusrat Ghani MP, Minister for Shipping, to come up with a solution that will provide a new ferry for the Isles of Scilly and preserve jobs in Appledore. FRIST co-ordinator, Marian Berkeley said the Isles of Scilly need a new ship to replace the aging 41 year old Scillonian III which was built at Appledore Shipyard, with the help of a Government interest… [Read full story]
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