Ferguson Marine chief 'blames' MCA over latest ferry fiasco

David Tydeman, chief executive of nationalised Ferguson Marine has admitted he knew about the problems within three months of him joining the firm in February, 2022. But the issues did not become public knowledge until last month.

Among the issues to be resolved surrounded the installation of the evacuation routes on the ferries in order to satisfy the MCA.

READ MORE: New ScotGov moves to sanction tracing of 'lost' £128m ferry money

The chief executive of the MCA said the safety rules relating to the vessels had been in place since 2009.

Ferguson Marine had originally indicated that it approached the safety body about the escape routes on April 11, 2023 and the plan was rejected sparking a redesign.

The issues related to requirements over additional protection to ladders and stairways as well as fire shelters and a means of escape from workshops within machinery spaces.

One of the key issues was a reliance of passengers exiting through areas dedicated to crew.

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

The changes mean the two vessels will carry nearly 300 passengers fewer than contracted for to allow for improved passenger seating layouts.

The two lifeline ferries Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa were both due to hold up to 1000 passengers when they eventually come into services.

But the MCA has denied that it has changed any rules, saying it had been working with the shipyard since 2015 before it was nationalised, with a working relationship restarted in August 2020.

In a letter to the Holyrood committee, the MCA chief executive, Virginia McVea, said the agency had been “consistent” in its application of safety rules.

She said that so-called “cargo ship” rules referenced by Mr Tydeman had been in place since 2009 and was legally required to be met under 2020 legislation.

But while being quizzed by MSPs at the Scottish Parliament's transport committee, Mr Tydeman said part of the problem was that local MCA officials in Glasgow had been "overruled" in relation to clearances by the head office in Southampton.

He said the "conversation" with MCA officials locally was that "we're going to get compliance".

The Ferguson Marine chief said that he had been aware within three months of taking on the job at the beleaguered nationalised yard that there were design gaps, one of which was an MCA issue.

Mr Tydeman said he was shown drawings dating back to 2016/17 that had red line marks from the MCA, highlighting that there were non-compliance issues on stair widths and other aspects.

He said that he approached the MCA 18 months ago about resolving the 'red line' issues and found that after conducting computer modelling, it was felt the evacuation issues could be overcome.

The Ferguson Marine chief executive said there was an awareness that assumptions were made by Ferguson Marine before it was nationalised that crew areas could be used as an escape route and the ships were designed with that in mind.

The first compliance form was issued in November 22, last year.

But Mr Tydeman said it wasn't until April, 2023, that they realized that the MCA head office had a "more strict approach to application of rules... and we had to do some rethinking between April and June".

He said: "We were perhaps overconfident that we were going to get all these exemptions based on the modelling and the conversations last year. And it was a bit of a surprise that we had to do the design changes that we've done over the last few months."

He added: "There was a disconnect with between the local conversations we were having with the MCA here in Glasgow and the final decisions from head office in Southampton."

When told by committee convener Edward Mountain that the MCA were blaming Ferguson Marine, Mr Tydeman said: "The responsibility has to rest with Ferguson for firstly producing a design with the wrong assumptions as the MCA very clearly set out.

"We have come up with a solution of producing extra staircases so that the passengers don't have to go through the crew areas. We have found a compliant solution.

"Yes, it's Ferguson's responsibility to get that right and we didn't get it right in the past."

Mr Mountain suggested that the delays would not have happened if the safety issues had been addressed 18 months ago.

Mr Tydeman said: "The local conversations we've been having with the local surveyors led us to believe that we were going to get exemptions on without having to [make changes] and as I said, maybe we were overconfident in those assumptions in the conversation with a local surveyor."

The safety work meant planned sea trials of the Glen Sannox were delayed until the first quarter of next year.

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.

But the further work on the vessels from the Scottish Government-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard raised further fears that the Glen Sannox would not be available for the start of the 2024 summer season.

Mr Tydeman had previously stated he was optimistic that Glen Sannox should be available to passengers in spring 2024.

The delayed second vessel, Glen Rosa, which was supposed to be online in the last reschedule in the autumn of 2024 having already been delayed to the end of March 2024, had been pushed back to November, 2024. The contract backstop was stated as being at the end of December 2024.

Both vessels were due online in the first half of 2018, with both now to serve Arran, but are at least five years late, with costs expected to be quadruple the original £97m contract.