Late and over-budget CalMac ferry the Glen Rosa to be launched

Work earlier this year to the Glen Rosa with the Glen Sannox, right (Photo by John Devlin/The Scotsman)

The second of Scotland’s late and over-budget ferries is due to be launched next week, it has emerged, after a week of of fresh controversy.

The MV Glen Rosa – previously known as hull 802 – will launch from the Ferguson Marine yard in Port Glasgow on Tuesday. The ferry and its sister vessel the Glen Sannox have been a running political sore for the Scottish Government and the publicly-owned yard, with repeated delays and cost overruns running into multiple hundreds of millions of pounds.

And this week took another twist as the chief executive of CalMac, Robbie Drummond, was removed from the post just over a week after Ferguson Marine chief David Tydeman was sacked by its board.

In attendance at the launch next week will be Wellbeing Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan, the yard’s interim chief executive John Petticrew, and Kevin Hobbs, the head of Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) – the publicly-backed owner of the ferry.

The ferry will need to undergo trials before its handover, which is expected in September. The first of the new ferries, the Glen Sannox, is continuing sea trials.

Mr Tydeman was sacked last month over “performance-related issues”, as further delays to the ferries were expected.

Under questioning in Parliament last week, Ms McAllan was unable to say how long the delays are expected to be.

First Minister Humza Yousaf insisted, however, that ministers did not order the sackings.

He said: “Let’s be clear – both Mairi and I have been very clear with boards, be it the board of Fergusons, be it our colleagues at CMAL or CalMac, that we expect delivery.

“We expect there to be a laser-like focus on delivery for our island communities.”

He said he had full confidence in Mr Hobbs – the current head of CMAL.

He added: “Any decisions around the management are for the board of these organisations to make.

“Our direction – from myself, from Mairi McAllan and the Transport Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop – is very clear.

“Focused on delivery, and that’s really crucial not just for the Government and for the organisations involved, but importantly for the island communities we seek to serve.”

The Glen Sannox completed additional sea trials on 2 April, with further trials yesterday. The trials are being conducted between the area south of Skelmorlie Bank to the north of Great Cumbrae Island in the Firth of Clyde. Glen Sannox will then berth at Inchgreen upon completion of the trials with work continuing to the vessel there.

While at dry dock, the vessel will be cleaned and final surveys of the ship’s underwater body will be conducted by Lloyds Register and Maritime & Coastguard Agency.