State-owned shipyard pledges to set out 10-year business strategy

The state-owned shipyard Ferguson Marine has pledged to set out a 10-year business strategy which will plot its course for the future.

However, MSPs have been told a further stage of review is required before the plan for the handover of Glen Rosa is “fully optimised”.

The shipyard in Port Glasgow missed out on a contract to build seven, new, small ferries for the west coast CalMac network, raising concerns about its future viability.

Instead, the work will go to a Polish shipyard which emerged as the winner of a competitive tendering process.

Glen Sannox entered service earlier this year. PA Media

Glen Rosa is the second of two ferries being built at Ferguson Marine for CalMac, with its sister ship Glen Sannox entering service earlier this year.

It is currently due to be handed over in September but there is a risk this deadline will need to be extended.

The ferries are years late in their delivery and more than three times the original price tag of £97 million.

Ferguson Marine’s chief financial officer, David Dishon, sent a quarterly update to Holyrood’s Transport Committee on Monday.

It said: “Extensive work has gone into delivering an updated business strategy.

The yard will produce a business plan. PA Media

“It clearly lays out our 10-year vision and provides certainty on the type of work the yard is not only well positioned to bid for but has a good chance of winning, backed by empirical evidence of the opportunities available in the market.

“We look forward to sharing the strategy in due course.”

Discussing Glen Rosa, Mr Dishon said “significant progress” has been made on the vessel, including the installation of mezzanine car decks.

He said the shipyard is incorporating the lessons learned from Glen Sannox in the construction of its sister ship, saying: “Over the next month we intend to progress a further stage of review and assurance activity to ensure the MV Glen Rosa operational plan has been fully optimised from the perspective of costs and handover date.”

Mr Dishon praised the reliability of the 102-metre long Glen Sannox, saying it is “a real Clyde-built industrial achievement”.

Separately, the Transport Committee received an update from the ferry-owning agency Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (Cmal) on the progress of four vessels being built in Turkey.

In line with its previous update, the agency said the first vessel, called Isle of Islay, would be delivered in the third quarter of 2025 – with the other vessels following in six-month intervals afterwards.

The main hull structures of all four vessels have been completed and costs were said to be “largely on track”.

Scottish Conservative transport spokeswoman Sue Webber said: “SNP ministers have presided over utter chaos since nationalising Ferguson Marine, so it’s entirely predictable that we still don’t know when this lifeline vessel will enter service.

“Islanders and local businesses deserve answers, but SNP ministers refuse to come clean and provide them with the certainty they so desperately need. That’s totally unacceptable.

“Hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been squandered and years have been wasted because of SNP ferry delays, but they refuse to own their own mistakes, using senior staff at Ferguson as scapegoats.”