THE leader of the bid to save the future of the SeaDragon project in the North-East last night issued one final plea for the Government to step in and save £300m investment and 1,000 jobs from being exported to the Far East.

Although part-nationalised Lloyds TSB has refused to fund the oil and gas platform’s construction in the North- East, claiming the Far East offers a less risky alternative, the Government has refused to intervene, saying it cannot become involved in a bank’s commercial decisions, despite it being 43 per cent owned by the UK taxpayer.

The Northern Echo has learned the cost of the rig being made in Singapore could be at least £110m more than in the UK, and that efforts are being made to get Cayman Islands-based Sea- Dragon, Lloyds TSB and the Government to answer “tough questions” at a Parliamentary Select Committee as to why the project – which could have created 1,000 jobs in the region – is now on its way to Jurong, Singapore.

Jon Dale, director of Tyne Tees Rigs (TTR) – which stepped in with a rescue bid after SeaDragon withdrew its original contract from the Tees Alliance Group (TAG) and has already completed 25 per cent of the rig top – said he believed the Government should have done more to help preserve investment in the UK, but said it is still not too late.

Despite the fact the rig hull is on its way to Singapore from its temporary base in Amsterdam, Mr Dale said: “It is still not too late for the Government to step in. There seems to be this dogma that the Government cannot get involved in what the banks do, but Lloyds TSB is 43 per cent owned by you and me as UK taxpayers. They seem to have put no pressure on to help support UK businesses and create UK jobs.

“This would never happen in the United States or France or Japan. They would never let a project, which would involve millions of pounds of investment and create hundreds of jobs, go abroad. Why is nothing being done about it here? This is our own personal money which we are seeing being exported. We have had so much verbal support for what we planned to do, but very little action from the Government. It was still not too late – but our hopes fade by the day.”

Mr Dale said he believed the bid from TTR – a joint venture between Darlington-based Cleveland Bridge and McNulty Offshore in South Shields, South Tyneside – was feasible, even though he was given no information from SeaDragon to support what TTR was putting together.

Indeed, two independent assessors appointed by Sea- Dragon to analyse TTR’s proposals agreed with that sentiment, although it was still rejected.

“I approached SeaDragon and explained what I wanted to do, that we could put a bid together that proved this rig could be built in the North- East, and I asked them if they would consider it. They said ‘maybe,’” he said.

“The bid was put together in two weeks, with myself, Steve Keyworth (managing director of McNulty) and the team working tirelessly on a lot of those nights. We were given no information by Sea- Dragon, which is all I wanted, just to feel like we were on a level playing field with the competition from Singapore.

“We’ve done everything we possibly can to keep this project here, and I honestly don’t know what more we can do.

We are now relying on the Government to step in – in the North-East, we have got the facilities, the will, the support, the experience to make this rig. Now we need the Government’s support for us to make it happen.”