John Swinney blamed over Ferguson Marine’s ‘uncertain future’ as ferries contract lost to Polish firm

John Swinney has been accused of leaving Ferguson Marine workers facing an “uncertain future” as he came under fire after the shipyard lost out on a contract to build seven smaller ferries for CalMac.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay blamed the loss of the contract on the “dodgy deal” given to the Port Glasgow yard to build the Glen Sannox and the Glen Rosa ferries, which ran years late and went massively over budget.

John Devlin/The Scotsman

The accusations, delivered during First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) at Holyrood, came as Ferguson Marine announced Babcock executive Graeme Thomson as the shipyard’s new chief executive.

Mr Thomson will take on the role from May 1, following the departure of interim head John Petticrew for “personal reasons” earlier this month.

In a statement, Mr Thomson described Ferguson Marine as “a cornerstone of Scotland’s rich maritime history and an important employer in Inverclyde”.

“The business, and its people, have faced challenging times, but as we look forward we must focus on delivering key contracts that demonstrate our capability to exceed expectations and build world-class ships on the Clyde,” he said.

“This, and our commitment to build a better culture based on accountability and robust governance, will enable us to put past issues behind us, restore the reputation of Ferguson Marine and realise its potential as a leader in global shipbuilding.”

The new chief will be urgently tasked with minimising any further delays to Glen Rosa, the second of two large CalMac ferries, and, crucially, win new work to keep the yard open.

His appointment was revealed just hours before Mr Findlay used FMQs to accuse Mr Swinney, who was finance secretary at the time, of having “personally signed off on a process that was not just flawed but corrupt”.

But with the yard now publicly-owned, Mr Findlay claimed that “under the direct control of John Swinney’s Government, they are unable to compete”. He challenged Mr Swinney after it was announced this week that a shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, was the preferred bidder for the new contract for seven vessels.

Mr Swinney said he would “love the vessels to be built at Ferguson”, but added the Scottish Government had to go through a competitive tendering process for the work.

Mr Findlay insisted: “These vessels could and indeed should have been built here in Scotland. Ferguson Marine could and should be fit to win these kind of contracts, because for decades, before the SNP had anything to do with it, Ferguson built ferries on budget and on time.

“After nationalisation the SNP had a duty to get Fergusons back into a position to win contracts legitimately, and they have failed to do so.”

He said that in awarding the contract for the Glen Sannox and the Glen Rosa to Fergusons, the Scottish Government had “let down” both islanders and taxpayers.

But Mr Swinney defended the Government’s decisions, telling Holyrood: “There would not have been a Fergusons yard trading just now if I had not intervened over ten years ago to try to secure the future of the yard, and I make no apology for doing that.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar meanwhile said the decision to award preferred bidder status to the Polish yard showed Mr Swinney believed Scotland to be “incapable of building its own ferries”.

With a previous contract for CalMac vessels having gone to Turkey, Mr Sarwar accused the SNP of failing to live up to its “stronger for Scotland” slogan.