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Getty ImagesThe supply date for MV Glen Rosa, the second one of 2 dual-fuel CalMac ferries being constructed by way of the nationalised Ferguson shipyard, has been put again by way of as much as 9 months.
The value of the send has additionally risen – by way of as much as £35m – that means the 2 ships will value upwards of £460m, greater than four-and-a-half instances the unique contract value.
Ferguson Marine stated it now anticipated Glen Rosa to be “substantially complete” within the first quarter of 2026, with ultimate supply going down between April and June.
The send, which is to serve CalMac’s Arran direction, used to be at first due for supply in July 2018.
MV Glen Rosa used to be introduced from the Ferguson slipway in Port Glasgow a yr in the past in a much more completed state than its an identical sister send MV Glen Sannox seven years previous.
While there used to be a lot “fitting out” paintings nonetheless to be performed, together with specialist cryogenic pipework for its liquefied herbal gasoline (LNG) engines, it used to be was hoping it might be delivered by way of the top of September this yr.
Ferguson Marine’s newly-appointed everlasting leader government Graeme Thomson apologised “unreservedly” to islanders as he showed this used to be now not imaginable.
He stated: “This is not the announcement we wanted to be making at this stage and cannot overstate our understanding of the importance of providing realistic handover schedules to support CalMac to provide a more reliable and robust service to the communities it serves.
“No one desires to look the swift supply of MV Glen Rosa greater than Ferguson Marine and we’re dedicated to operating challenging to verify the vessel is delivered inside of this window.”
The update gave no detailed reasons but BBC Scotland News understands there have been knock-on impacts from delays in the construction of the previous ship.
Glen Sannox was finally delivered to its owner, ferries procurement body CMAL, last November after a number of late stage complications with the specialist LNG pipework and commissioning of the engine systems.
Sources at the shipyard said significant resources had to be diverted from Glen Rosa in order get Glen Sannox into service.
FMPGIn an update letter to MSPs, Mr Thomson said the cost to complete the vessel would rise from £150m to £172.5 plus a further £12.5m for contingencies – taking the forecasted cost to £185m.
Glen Sannox was completed for about £150m but these figure do not include £83m paid out prior to nationalisation, or £45m of government loans that were subsequently written down.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said she had communicated her “unhappiness and frustration” at the announcement to the Ferguson board.
“It is crucial that that there is not any additional lengthen or further value to ship the vessel past this level,” she stated.
“Ferguson Marine’s management will have to take rapid and sustained motion to revive consider, put into effect supply self-discipline, and produce this venture below regulate.”
Scottish Conservative transport spokeswoman Sue Webber said the government should take responsibility, and that islanders had been “betrayed at each flip by way of the SNP’s incompetence”.
She stated: “The monumental building up in each the lengthen and the price of handing over the Glen Rosa beggars trust – and but it’s completely in step with the nationalists’ scandalous mismanagement of our ferry community.”
For the Scottish Liberal Democrats, West of Scotland MSP Jamie Greene demanded an urgent statement to parliament.
“The hard-working workforce at Ferguson Marine had been let down by way of bosses, all paid large sums of public money, but islanders are nonetheless ready on their ferries. Not a unmarried SNP minister has misplaced their process over this fiasco,” he stated.
Christopher BrindleThe £97m contract for Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, the first LNG-powered ferries ever built by a UK shipyard, was awarded to Ferguson Marine in 2015, and both ships originally were due for delivery in 2018.
But design challenges and disputes between the shipyard’s former owners and government-owned ferries body CMAL led to a stand-off over claims for extra costs.
The shipyard’s management maintained that a poorly-developed specification and repeated interference by CMAL had led to unforeseen complications.
CMAL denied this and claimed the yard’s new owners had underestimated the complexity of the project.
The stalemate eventually resulted in Ferguson’s going into administration and being taken into state ownership in 2019 with the project already about £100m overbudget.
Problems continued after nationalisation with further delays and costs further.
MV Glen Sannox is now in service on CalMac’s Arran route, but the state-owned ferry operator remains under pressure as it awaits the arrival of new replacement vessels for its ageing fleet.
Four different huge ferries below building in Turkey also are not on time with the primary of them, MV Isle of Islay, due for supply later this summer time.
