Costs of Scots ferry fiasco soars - and could reach £400m

David Tydeman, the chief executive of Ferguson Marine indicated that it will cost an extra £240 million to build Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa on top of what was spent before nationalisation.

Some £83.25 million was spent on the ferries prior to Scottish Government taking control of the shipyard firm with a further £45m loaned.

In his latest update, Mr Tydeman says the contingency costs for both vessels could increase the overall spend even further by £30 million. And there is a potential extra spend on warranties, many of which have expired.

Glen Sannox was due in March 2024 but there remain doubts over whether that schedule will be met with Mr Tydeman saying it will "depend on how well the trials progress". It is believed Glen Rosa is now not due to be completed until May 2025.

After a summer update, CalMac had expected Glen Sannox to be handed over in December 2023, and Glen Rosa in December 2024. They say that once handed over there will be a two month period where they will carry out crew familiarisation and network trials.

This makes Glen Sannox over six years late as it was originally due at the end of 2017, whilst Glen Rosa will be more than seven years late as Transport Scotland originally said it would be delivered ‘some months after’ the first vessel.

Mr Tydeman blamed half of the large increase from the original budget on what happened before nationalisation of Ferguson Marine in 2019 and in the first year after the Scottish Government took charge.

He said some of the delays and extra costs on wrong decision taken before nationalisation through an "unconventional build strategy, embedding signficiant design challenges, gaps and errors".

He also said decisions taken after nationalisation in 2020, before he took the helm of Ferguson Marine were partly to blame.

These included changing the contractors for the overall ship-wide operating systems, tasking new designers with "an impossible timeline".

He also said the original £97m orginal contract prices was "understated" and that inflation issues have become a "significant factor".

Mr Tydeman issued an apology over financial assessments set out in his June letter which failed to include £10m of work in progress in May and June, 2023.

Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP, said: “The SNP’s shambolic handling of building these two new lifeline ferries means taxpayers money is continuing to be wasted on an astonishing scale.

“Successive SNP transport ministers have betrayed islanders time and time again. It is simply disgraceful that it has been confirmed that they will now have to wait even longer for one of these vessels to be delivered, with the 802 ferry now set to be seven years late.

“Every update from Ferguson Marine involves more costs for the taxpayers or a further slip on the endless delays island communities have had to suffer. The consequences of the ferry fiasco have been devastating for residents and the local economy in the areas affected.

“Serious questions must be asked as to why these costs were not included by David Tydeman when he updated the committee only three months ago. Since then costs have spiralled by a further £10 million, bringing the total cost for the two ferries to £368.5 million and counting.

“Added to that, the yard faces a very uncertain future as we don’t know if the government is prepared to invest any more money into it. We need an answer to that quickly.

“These ferries must be delivered without any further delay and with costs to the public purse kept to an absolute minimum. Then Humza Yousaf must stop ducking responsibility and agree to a full independent inquiry into this shameful waste of money.”

It comes after concerns were raised that regulatory clearances for two ferries at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco were not made in good time - after it emerged they failed to comply with safety rules that are seven years old.

Safety clearances for Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa were rejected on June 1, sparking a redesign.

Among the issues to be resolved surrounds the installation of the evacuation routes on Glen Sannox and Hull 802 in order to satisfy the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which is responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy.

It emerged that according to MCA, Ferguson Marine approached the safety body about the escape routes on April 11, 2023 and the plan was rejected sparking a redesign.

The issues related to 2016 cargo ship rules and linked to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) which states the requirements for means of escape.

David Tydeman, chief executive of nationalised Ferguson Marine has said that the issues had been the result of the MCA reassessing cargo ship rules.

The MCA in answer to a question about whether there were any rule changes said there had not been any. But they said there had been an "interpretation" of what was required and indicated that that could already be seen in other CalMac vessels.

It said that the issues came as part of an approval process during the build, where they identify areas of non-compliance. It is then for the designer or builder to then decide how to address the matters.

A Scottish Government spokesman said "This latest update is obviously disappointing.

“The Scottish Government’s priorities have always been and remain the completion of the two ferries, securing a future for the yard and its workforce and supporting our island communities that rely on this type of vessel on a daily basis.

“Ferguson Marine has been asked to do everything possible to minimise costs and ensure these ferries are able to enter service as soon as possible.”