A £150m scheme to transform the site of the former Hunterston coal terminal in North Ayrshire has been given the go-ahead.

Peel Ports Clydeport, which owns the site, has been granted planning permission to fill in the dry dock and create a "hub for the blue and green economies".

Plans for the 350 acre (142 hectares) site include the world's largest Liquid Air Energy Storage facility and subsea cable manufacturing.

The company claims the work will attract £3.5bn in inward investment and create more than 5,000 jobs.

The redevelopment work is scheduled to begin in 2025 and will take about two years to complete.

Peel Ports says the work will help increase the opportunities for expanding offshore wind power off the west coasts of Britain.

The company says up to 90% of the site has been optioned by firms in the sustainable energy sector.

Future tenants would include companies working on subsea cable manufacturing and the construction of gravity base structures.

These are very large submersible structures that have heavy bases and sit on the seabed, held in place by their weight and friction.

Traditionally used in the oil and gas industry, the technology behind them is being adapted for use in the off-shore wind sector.

Lewis McIntyre, managing director of port services at Peel Ports Group, said the site would become a "major facilitator" of the UK's transition to sustainable energy.

“There will be no energy transition without ports, and harnessing the potential of sites like Hunterston is key to achieving the UK’s net-zero goals," he said.

"The knock-on benefits for the local and national economies are also significant. We look forward to working with the policymaking community to create the investment conditions we need to replicate the success of Hunterston at other sites across the country.”

The Hunterston terminal, which sits south of Fairlie opposite the island of Great Cumbrae, was once one of Scotland's most important industrial sites.

It was opened in 1979, creating a deep-water port to allow iron ore for the Ravencraig steelworks to come into the country.

After the closure of Ravenscraig in 1992, it was used to import coal for the Longannet and Cockenzie power stations in Fife and East Lothian.

That business came to an end in 2016 with the closure of Longannet.

The owners began clearing the site in 2019.

A newly-built ferry which is too big for its home port in Australia has arrived in Edinburgh where it will be mothballed.

The Spirit of Tasmania IV could remain in Leith for almost three years due to issues with existing infrastructure in the city of Devonport.

The 212m-long (695ft) ship was built at a yard in Finland, but had to be moved before winter over concerns it could be damaged by pack ice.

A new berth to accommodate the ship, and sister vessel Spirit of Tasmania V, may not be ready until late 2026 or 2027 and the saga has sparked a huge political row on the other side of the world.

The vessel was due to operate in the Bass Strait, between Tasmania and the Australian state of Victoria, and had been described as a “game-changer” for the island’s tourism industry.

However, a series of delays in its construction, skyrocketing costs and problems upgrading current berths led to one Australian politician describing it as “the biggest infrastructure stuff-up” in the state’s history, external.

In August, the infrastructure minister, Michael Ferguson, and the chairman of ferry operator TT-Line, which is state-owned, resigned due to the debacle.

The cost of building the two LNG dual-fuel ships has risen by A$94m (£47.5m) from A$850m (£430m) when the contract was signed in 2021.

Meanwhile the cost of upgrading current infrastructure in Devonport, which handles about 450,000 passengers a year, has more than quadrupled from an original estimate of A$90m (£45.5m).

TT-Line will pay A$47,534 (£24,031) per week to berth the ship at Forth Ports, according to figures published by the Tasmanian government.

Its transport minister, Eric Abetz, said: "It is prudent to relocate the ship to Leith whilst leasing options are explored.

"To have it relocated to Tasmania whilst these options are explored would be far more expensive and waste a significant amount of taxpayer money."

The ship will be stationed at Leith’s Imperial Dock, the same space previously occupied by the MS Victoria, which housed more than 1,000 Ukrainian refugees.

There is no indication of when it will be ready to sail to Tasmania, but in October it was reported the berth at Devonport would not be ready until October 2026 by the earliest.

TT-Line’s chief executive, Bernard Dwyer, said the operator was looking into leasing out the vessel.

But the size of the ships means they are unlikely to be of use in solving Scotland’s own well-documented issues with ferries on the west coast.

A spokeswoman for Forth Ports said: "The Spirit of Tasmania arrived in the Port of Leith yesterday and she will stay here for a period of time.

"The port regularly provides berthing for vessels requiring temporary layup and whilst commercial matters are confidential the arrangements for the Spirit of Tasmania reflect the non-operational status of the vessel and the limited day-to-day interaction with the port."

In the dark, early morning hours of 26 March, US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg's phone rang - and he immediately knew he had a problem.

"If my phone rings in the middle of the night, it's not a good thing," he recalled.

The Dali, a massive 948ft (289m) cargo ship had slammed into Baltimore's iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending the 1.5-mile (2.4km) bridge into the cold waters of the state's Patapsco River.

"It wasn't immediately clear what we were dealing with," Buttigieg told the BBC in an interview. "How many people had been impacted, and how much of the bridge had been destroyed."

Six men, all members of a road crew working on the bridge, were killed in the incident, which left the Dali - still afloat - stuck under huge chunks of shredded metal and concrete. Another man was pulled from the icy water, seriously injured.

A new documentary from BBC One - available on iPlayer on 5 December - reveals new details of the investigation into the crash, including a possible cause: a cable that shook loose, disrupting the ship's power supply and causing an initial blackout minutes before it struck the bridge.

After that, investigators believe they discovered a lack of fuel pressure to the generators may have created power fluctuations that tripped breakers and caused the ship to go dark again, with no time to change course before slamming into the bridge.

Previously unseen bodycam footage taken after the collapse shows first responders and officials struggling to come to grips with the enormity of what they faced in the confusing hours after the crash.

"Key Bridge is down. It was last reported that there are at least several vehicles in the water," an officer can be heard saying. "And several people still unaccounted for."

In the aftermath of the collapse, an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 45,000 tonnes of debris blocked the Patapsco, a 700ft (213m) wide and 50ft (15m) deep and economically vital shipping channel.

Recovering the bodies and removing the twisted, broken steel and concrete from the channel - plus moving the Dali - fell to a massive team including US Army, Navy and Coast Guard members, as well as Maryland authorities and specialist private firms.

The woman who led the effort, Colonel Estee Pinchasin, the Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore district commander, said that she had "never seen anything of that magnitude before".

"Everything [was] mangled up on top and around," she said. "You had these big, large spans that were just laying in the water. You see four-inch steel that's been bent... how can you even start to think about the force?"

The dangerous work of searching the debris field and determining which pieces could be safely removed - and when - fell, in part, to teams of divers who inspected both the ship and the destruction beneath the surface.

Never-before-seen footage obtained by the BBC shows the difficult conditions they faced: jagged and potentially dangerous pieces of rubble and muddy, brown water, which often meant they could not see more than a foot or two ahead of them.

"There was no visibility. I kind of compared it to a metal jungle gym underwater," recalled Robyn Bianchi, the assistant salvage master for one of the firms involved, Donjon Marine.

"You turn off all the lights in the room and try tell me all the pieces of where they connect to that metal jungle gym. Oh, and by the way, the jungle gym is completely twisted and looks nothing like it did when it was built to perfection."

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, found that two electrical blackouts disabled equipment ahead of the incident, and noted that the ship lost power twice in the 10 hours leading up to the crash.

In the aftermath, NTSB investigators were tasked with determining what happened. Eventually, they discovered a loose cable, which it is believed may have caused a power surge that tripped two breakers and disrupted electricity.

As the crew struggled to restart the engine, a second blackout took place, likely as the result of a pump supplying generators with fuel shutting down and not restarting automatically.

The erratic generators may have created additional power fluctuations that trip the ship's breakers - a common occurrence faced by seafarers, but which mostly takes place in open waters.

Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian and former merchant mariner, said that the silence the sailors must have heard in those moments is "the worst sound you ever hear" on a ship.

"At that moment, you realise you don't have control of the ship anymore," he added. "It is a nightmare... you have a very short period of time in which to restore power."

In the Dali's case, it was already too late. The time between the ship losing power and striking the bridge, it was later determined, was about four minutes.

Despite the destruction and loss of life, officials are relieved that the incident was not worse.

On the night of the collapse, police were able to stop traffic, with the last car clearing the bridge just 40 seconds before it fell.

"Cars would have kept coming," Maryland Governor Wes Moore said. "By the time the people driving the vehicles realised the bridge was gone, it just would have been too late."

"I can't tell you how many lives they saved," he added. "Because the answer is countless."

The Royal Navy's last Trafalgar-Class attack submarine has completed its final voyage from Scotland to be decommissioned.

HMS Triumph sailed from HM Naval Base Clyde, at Faslane in Argyll, to HMNB Devonport in Plymouth to retire after more than 20 years in service.

It was the last remaining of seven Trafalgar Class attack submarines deployed in operations around the world including Australia, Afghanistan and Libya.

Clyde tugboats fired water cannons to send off the submarine and its 110-strong crew on Tuesday, before being welcomed by waving well-wishers as it sailed into Plymouth Sound.

HMS Triumph arrived flying a decommissioning pennant as it was escorted by tugboats and vessels from Devonport.

Commander Aaron Williams, HMS Triumph's commanding officer, said the Royal Navy would reflect on the legacy of HMS Triumph "with immense pride".

He added: "The submarine has served not just as a vessel, but as a symbol of commitment, courage, and camaraderie.

"While this chapter of HMS Triumph's story ends, her spirit will endure in the memories of all who served aboard her, and in the gratitude of the nation she helped protect."

HMS Triumph was laid down in Barrow shipyard in February 1987 and commissioned less than five years later in October 1991.

The submarine deployed to Australia in 1993, travelling 41,000 miles submerged without support, which at the time was the longest solo deployment by a Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine.

The vessel later served in Afghanistan, launching Tomahawk missiles at targets, and was later deployed to Libya – again firing her weaponry at positions from the Mediterranean Sea.

Royal Navy director of submarines, Rear Admiral Andy Perks, said the farewell stirred emotions of both "pride and sadness".

He added: "The last of the Cold War submarines, these vessels have helped keep our country safe for over 30 years."

Triumph will be officially decommissioned in a ceremony in 2025 as the baton is fully passed to Astute-Class attack submarines.

Five vessels - HMS Astute, HMS Ambush, HMS Artful, HMS Audacious and HMS Anson - are all currently in service and operating from HM Naval Base Clyde.

A further two boats are under construction at BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness.

A buy-out of shipbuilder Harland & Wolff has secured the future of 350 jobs in Scotland, the UK government has said.

The Belfast-based company, which owns fabrication yards in Arnish in Lewis and Methil in Fife, was placed into administration in September.

It has been taken over by Spain's state-owned shipbuilder, Navantia, in a deal backed by the UK government and involving 1,000 UK jobs in total.

Trade unions have welcomed the move, but warned new orders were needed to keep the yards busy.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said skilled Scottish jobs in communities in the Western Isles and Fife had been secured.

He added: "Navantia's investment will not only secure the future of all four UK yards, but also encourage future support for UK shipbuilding and fabrication - a vital cornerstone of our defence and clean energy sectors."

Matt Roberts, national officer with the GMB union, said the buy-out was a positive step to retaining manufacturing in the UK.

"Without a steady drum beat of work these yards will continue to struggle. GMB will continue the fight to ensure that does not happen," he said.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the union had been working "day and night" to secure the interests of the workers at Harland & Wolff.

She said: "After countless meetings with government, the employer, and prospective buyers, we now have a good news story offering real hope for the future. Unite will always do whatever it takes to fight for workers' interests."

The Scottish yards were owned by BiFab before being taken over by Harland & Wolff.

Work at the sites have included contracts to make wind farm turbine components.

Arnish near Stornoway was founded in 1974 with backing from Norwegian company Olsen's.

Contracts in the early days included constructing a large barge.

The yard was also later used for repurposing rigs for the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Methil has a long history of shipbuilding.

In 2013 the yard was used for testing what was at the time the world's largest and most powerful installed wind turbine.

Both yards have frequently experienced risks of closure and job losses and are important employers in their areas.

Western Isles SNP MSP Alasdair Allan said the buy-out was "great news" for workers at Arnish, their families and the wider economy of the Western Isles.

He said: "It's certainly a welcome announcement as people prepares for the Christmas break.

"Navantia appear to have a strong record in the maritime industry with strong financial backing and a plan for the future."

Western Isles Labour MP Torcuil Crichton said: "There are over 150 jobs at the yard, from apprentices to journeymen, and losing those jobs and that wage bill would have been a major blow to the economy."

Donald Crichton, a senior islands councillor, said he was delighted for employees and their families.

He added: "The past months have been a stressful time for all connected with the yard and they are to be commended for their continued professionalism and resilience."

The deal to sell the assets of the former Harland & Wolff group to Spain's state-owned shipbuilder Navantia comes with a sweetener from the UK government.

To ensure all four yards are taken on, with jobs guaranteed for at least two years and three for Belfast, the Ministry of Defence renegotiated the contract it had already signed with Navantia, to build three large support ships for the Royal Navy, most of that work to be sub-contracted to Harland & Wolff in Belfast.

So while it's seen as a new type of working relationship with European neighbours post-Brexit, and presented as an example of the Labour government's industrial strategy to support and grow key sectors -and it may be a bit both - the deal appears to owe more to necessity, pragmatism and politics than to strategy.

It's claimed that Navantia did not initially want to take on the Scottish yards, because they're not core to its shipbuilding business. For half a century, they have been in steel fabrication, and their job now is to make themselves useful to their new owners, making parts of ships for assembly in Belfast, and winning business from the offshore energy sector.

In Methil and Stornoway, they have seen boom and bust in employment, as orders and owners have come and gone. Unions now want to see these yards becoming sustained and successful, rather than merely surviving.

That requires a change of mindset for UK shipbuilding and fabrication: to rely less on one-off or short-run orders, or on the Ministry of Defence, and to compete efficiently by producing multiple copies of structures as if on assembly lines.

They're already doing that in building 30 barges for transporting waste on the River Thames. New ownership brings in Spanish expertise, as a successful state-owned exporter, to embed that approach and to fabricate a more reliable future.

The long-delayed ferry MV Glen Sannox will begin timetabled sailings on 13 January, CalMac has announced.

The ferry operator confirmed the vessel would enter official passenger service on the Arran route after successful tests and crew familiarisation over the past month.

Glen Sannox will run on the busiest route on the CalMac network, operating between Troon to Brodick.

It had been scheduled for delivery in 2018 but endured considerable delays due to major challenges in design and construction, in what became a long-running political row.

Costs on the ferry increased from an initial contract price of £97m to more than £400m, £45m of which were government loans never fully recovered.

A soft launch of the ship is expected in the week of 6 January, with occasional sailing once or twice a day, before the full passenger timetable launches the following week.

Scottish government Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said confirmation of the Glen Sannox's arrival was "welcome news".

She added: "This new vessel will support the people of Arran and wider ferry network.

"She will deliver increased capacity on the busiest route on the Clyde and Hebrides network, and we can all now look forward to her bringing benefits to our island communities and ferry users."

Duncan Mackison, CalMac's CEO, said: "The feedback from our crew has been that the vessel is performing well, and there is real excitement across CalMac about getting her into service and serving Arran."

CalMac also confirmed that MV Caledonian Isles, which operates from Ardrossan to Brodick, should return to service in time for the next summer timetable, on 28 March 2025.

The vessel has re-entered drydock for several weeks of steel renewal works, which will be followed by realignment work and sea trials.

Mr Mackison added: "There has been understandable concern about the future of MV Caledonian Isles but her future prognosis is good and we are increasingly confident she will return to serve Arran in time for our busy summer period."

Plans are for Arran to have a two-vessel service to Brodick, with MV Glen Sannox from Troon and MV Caledonian Isles from Ardrossan, starting on 28 March 2025.

Since the Glen Sannox was launched the Ferguson Marine shipyard where it was built has faced administration, nationalisation and years of delays as it struggled with complex engineering challenges to complete the dual-fuel ship.

Ferry operator CalMac has been forced to cut passengers numbers on its MV Isle of Mull vessel to just 45 after it failed a safety check.

Problems were identified with the ship's evacuation system during its annual overhaul.

CalMac has confirmed passenger numbers must be temporarily limited to reflect the spaces available on its lifeboats. However, difficulties in finding replacement parts for the evacuation system mean the restriction could be in place for "several months".

The MV Isle of Mull - which can carry about 900 passengers - is due back on the Lochboisdale to Oban route on Sunday 5 January.

A spokesperson for the operator said: "During the routine inspection of the deployed system, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) identified an issue with the embarkation slide, resulting in the slide failing the inspection.

"Due to the failure, the starboard side MES system was removed for OEM inspection and, unfortunately, failed with the same issue with the glue used in the slide construction.

"The MES is inspected during overhauls and the annual inspection completed the previous year (2023) had not identified this as a potential issue."

They added: "Working with the OEM and after an extensive worldwide search, it has become evident that there is no like-for-like replacement available. Obsolescence combined with the design changes in the replacement systems mean that we do not have a compatible evacuation slide to embark passengers onto the life rafts in an emergency.

"It is possible that this could take several months to complete. Time will then be required to install and test the system before returning the vessel to a normal Passengers On Board figure."

CalMac says passenger bookings on the Lochboisdale route very rarely exceed 45 passengers per sailing at this time of year.

At the time the restrictions were brought in, there were no bookings exceeding the 45 passengers per sailing limit.

The issues are the latest in a series of technical problems to hit CalMac's ageing ferry fleet.

In October, the operator was forced into making temporary changes to some of its services due to ongoing disruption caused by repairs to the MV Caledonian Isles.

It had been due to return to its Arran route on 23 September after eight months of maintenance work, but will not now return until March.

Projects to build new ferries have also been hit by delays.

They include Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa which were originally due for delivery in 2018 but have faced repeated design and construction challenges.

It was announced earlier this month that the Glen Sannox will begin timetabled sailings on 13 January.

CalMac confirmed the vessel will enter official passenger service on the Arran route after successful tests and crew familiarisation over the past month.

Glen Sannox will run on the busiest route on the CalMac network, operating between Troon to Brodick.

The carbon footprint of a long-delayed new "green" ferry will be far larger than the 31-year-old diesel ship that usually serves the route between the Scottish mainland and the island of Arran.

An emissions analysis by CalMac has calculated MV Glen Sannox will emit 10,391 equivalent tonnes of CO2 a year compared with 7,732 for MV Caledonian Isles.

The dual-fuel ferry has more car capacity but requires larger engines which also emit methane, a greenhouse gas with a far greater global warming effect than CO2.

Ferries procurement agency CMAL, which owns the ship, said the comparison was "inaccurate" as Glen Sannox is a larger vessel.

The size of Glen Sannox is a factor in its carbon footprint, but so too is the liquified natural gas (LNG) fuel which is less climate-friendly than previously claimed.

One expert on transport emissions told BBC News that if the "upstream" carbon cost of importing LNG from Qatar is included in the emissions calculation, it might be better to run the new ship on diesel.

Prof Tristan Smith, from University College London's Energy Institute, said: "In a best case scenario there's a negligible benefit of using LNG, and at worst there would be a deterioration."

Glen Sannox is the first ferry ever built in the UK capable of running on both LNG and marine gas oil (MGO), a low-sulphur type of diesel.

At its launch in 2017, then first minister Nicola Sturgeon said it would contribute to "Scotland's world-leading climate change goals".

But the LNG technology also added complexity. The Ferguson shipyard had to overcome many engineering and regulatory challenges before the ship was delivered last month, years late and over budget.

The size of the ship also means it cannot berth at the usual mainland harbour at Ardrossan until a major redevelopment takes place.

When it enters service next month, Glen Sannox will bring a significant increase in car capacity. It can carry 127 cars compared to about 90 for Caledonian Isles.

Air pollutants, known as NOx and SOx, will be also reduced, while its power and manoeuvrability should mean fewer weather-related cancellations.

But in terms of greenhouse emissions, the CalMac analysis - seen by BBC News - reveals the benefits of the LNG technology are quite small.

Once methane emissions are factored in, the benefit of running the ship on LNG rather than MGO-only is less than 9%.

And the increased fuel consumption of the heavier ship means its overall carbon footprint is about 35% larger than Caledonian Isles, which is due to return to the Arran route in March following repairs.

The carbon emissions have nothing to do with the design and construction of Glen Sannox by the Ferguson shipyard - the yard simply built the ship it was asked for.

Instead they are due to decisions taken by ferries procurement agency CMAL, ferry operator CalMac and Transport Scotland before the contract was put out to tender.

The old ferry, Caledonian Isles, was designed to carry 110 cars, but modern cars are so much wider, it can now only fit about 90.

Glen Sannox was specified to carry 127 modern cars, or 16 HGVs, and to have a higher top speed (although this is not necessary for Arran sailings) resulting in a far heavier ship which requires bigger engines.

When running on LNG, CO2 emissions are up to 25% lower - but this is almost entirely offset by the larger engine size and higher fuel consumption.