RFA Brambleleaf was refitted at Inchgreen

Scott Lithgow Shiprepairers is aiming to attract repair work to its base at the Inchgreen dock in Port Glasgow.

The new company is a subsidiary of a Merseyside firm, which hopes to create at least 100 jobs over the coming year.

Northwestern Shiprepairers' John Syvret said: "We believe it is an excellent name. It has an excellent history and we want to build on that."

The company employs 250 people on Merseyside, where it leases six dry docks.

The facility has been closed for many years, but we believe there is a future there John Syvret NSL managing director

However, it has reached "critical mass" within those facilities after a successful year.

NSL has already used Inchgreen for major contracts, such as the refit of RFA Fort George and RFA Brambleleaf.

Mr Syvret said more than 1,000 people were employed at the Inverclyde site during the work, including sub-contractors and local workers.

"Having completed a number of successful projects at the facility operating remotely from Merseyside, the establishment of this company allows us to offer a better service to our existing customer base and attract new customers in different markets," he said.

He said there had already been a "fantastic" response to the creation of the operation.

Strategic location

He cautioned that it would take time to re-establish the name and build up the business.

But Mr Syvret said he hoped to see 100 jobs created at Inchgreen over the next 12 months and expressed optimism that the figure would prove to be far higher.

"The facility has been closed for many years, but we believe there is a future there," he said.

"We believe the yard is in a very important strategic location."

But he stressed: "It is not a shipbuilding base. We are not a shipbuilder.

Passenger ships

"We are a ship repair, ship conversion and military refit specialist."

The company hopes to create a centre of excellence on the Clyde for passenger ship refits, larger military refits and offshore conversions.

The original Scott Lithgow company was established in 1970 when shipbuilding was nationalised, and ceased trading in 1993.

It was created by bringing together two separate businesses - Scott's of Greenock, which was established in 1711, and Lithgow's of Port Glasgow, which dated back to 1874.