CalMac ferry fiasco: Glen Sannox to finally begin sea trials in 'important' parsecstone moment – Scotsman comment

Long-awaited Glen Sannox ferry is edging closer to the day when it will actually start carrying passengers

Get ready! The big day is almost here. The Glen Sannox ferry – years late and countless millions over budget – is about to set sail for real for the first time.

When we say “set sail”, we should reassure readers that, while it may seem like it to some, work did not start sometime in the Age of Exploration when wind power ruled the waves and it doesn’t actually have any sails. Nor is it driven by a steam engine or propelled by paddles. It is in fact a, relatively speaking, ‘modern’ vessel.

The Ferguson Marine shipyard described the first round of sea trials – due to begin on February 13, happily not a Friday – as an “important milestone”. It feels like a longer unit of measurement would be more appropriate – a light-yearstone or parsecstone?

The Glen Sannox has been towed during a dry dock transfer but is now due to begin its sea trials later this month (Picture contributed)

As ever in this sorry, shameful saga, it pays not to be too optimistic. Union leaders have cautioned that the sea trials may throw up “areas demanding further attention and work”. Maybe the best we can hope for is that it manages to stay upright.