Ferguson Marine ferry fiasco: Glen Sannox costs rise another £20m and year-end completion a ‘challenge’

Port Glasgow shipyard chief still optimistic newest CalMac vessel can carry passengers next spring

Further problems with the ill-fated ferry Glen Sannox have added another £20 million to its cost while completing it by the end of the year will remain a “challenge”, the Ferguson Marine shipyard has told MSPs.

However, chief executive David Tydeman said if there were no further problems, what will become CalMac’s second largest vessel "should be available to passengers in spring 2024" – as expected.

The ship and sister vessel 802 are five years behind schedule and will cost more than three times the £97m original contract. Ferguson Marine said the latest increase brought the total to around £351m, including £45m of loans to the yard.

Glen Sannox was due to be completed to serve the main Arran route in 2018. Picture: John Devlin

Glen Sannox is due to be completed this autumn, or by the end of the year at the latest, after which CalMac will conduct eight weeks of sea trials before it enters passenger service on the main Arran route.

Mr Tydeman said: “It's clear and regrettable that having 100 per cent confidence in the delivery date for Glen Sannox will remain a challenge monthly as we progress through commissioning, snagging and handover trials during the rest of the year.”

Ferries Scotland: Inside Glen Sannox as hugely-delayed CalMac ferry nears completion at Ferguson Marine

In his latest quarterly progress update Holyrood’s net zero, energy and transport committee, Mr Tydeman said the yard had had to deal with a “large amount of re-work” on Glen Sannox such replacing non-compliant equipment and pipework, some of which is “proving very difficult to resolve”.

Glen Sannox at the Ferguson Marine shipyard on June 23 2023. Picture: The Scotsman

He said this was due to design and build decisions made by the yard’s previous owners and “exacerbated by changes in key contractors and designers in the recovery from administration in 2019”.

The Port Glasgow yard was nationalised by the Scottish Government following the collapse of the previous ownership under SNP-supporting businessman Jim McColl.

Mr Tydeman also warned: “Regrettably, re-work issues continue to arise and will probably not fully close out until handover. This has significantly increased the overall scope of work since we set out the forecasts last September.”

Several days of work in a dry dock have also had to be postponed from September to December to avoid the ferry being trapped there by other vessels.

Mr Tydeman said the cost of completing Glen Sannox had increased from £94.8m to £114m, with only some £6m still to spend. He said the cost of 802 had increased from £105m to £109m.

However, he said 802 would be completed “at a significantly lower cost” than Glen Sannox because it was less finished under the previous owners. Ministers have agreed to complete the ferry, even though it was judged better value for money to build another one instead, to avoid further delays.

Mr Tydeman said the yard had made “good positive progress” with both ships, “with all the main machinery running, propellers turning, thrusters running and navigation equipment operational on Glen Sannox, with Lloyds Register classification surveyors witnessing tests and progressively signing off key stages of bringing the ship to life.

"Subject to the key issues noted above and positive progress with final snagging and trials, Glen Sannox should be available for passengers in spring 2024.”

He added: “We remain confident that we can transfer the learning from Glen Sannox into a faster, more efficient, and more robust outfitting and commissioning programme for 802.”

Mr Tydeman said the ferries’ novel dual fuel propulsion system – diesel/marine gas oil (MGO) and liquified natural gas (LNG) – could throw up further problems. He said: “The LNG system can only be proven once we have agreed where the very low temperature (-170C) LNG can be safely loaded on to the ship and once the integrity of machinery has been first proven with the MGO fuel.

"We expect decisions to be made during the next three months and this highlights that Glen Sannox will be the first ship to be built and commissioned in the UK with LNG and there could be unforeseen issues during the final commissioning processes.”

But he added: “The switch of fuels between the same engine running on LNG or diesel will be seamless. Rather akin to a hybrid car switching between battery and a petrol engine in a way that is almost unnoticeable to the driver, the switch onboard ship will not be easily noticeable to passengers.”

Scottish Conservative transport spokesperson Graham Simpson said: “The SNP’s ferries scandal continues to hemorrhage taxpayers’ money at a bewildering rate, while betrayed islanders are kept waiting for lifeline vessels. To add insult to injury, it now appears delivering Glen Sannox by the end of the year is a “challenge”, so we’re looking at yet another intolerable delay.”

His Scottish Labour counterpart Alex Rowley said: "Islanders and workers have been let down by the Scottish Government time and time again throughout this fiasco, which seemingly has no end.”

Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray, who warned MSPs last week that such cost increases could not be ruled out, said: “I am extremely disappointed by the projected increase in costs and share the very real concerns that our island communities, in particular, will feel as a result of his update.

"I do, of course, accept that there are inflationary pressures in the wider economy and inherent risks around the delivery of first-in-class vessels, particularly when Ferguson Marine is wrestling with the consequences of design decisions taken some time ago under previous ownership. However, I expect the management of the yard to bear down on these costs.”