A late and over-budget ferry has begun further sea trials which are “off to a good start”.

The MV Glen Sannox liquefied natural gas (LNG) trials officially began on Friday, Ferguson Marine said.

The trials come after a number of delays, with the Port Glasgow yard’s chief executive, John Petticrew, saying last week it would not be able to meet planned target dates.

The firm announced on Friday that the vessel was sailing in the Firth of Clyde which it will continue to do over the weekend.

The Glen Sannox and her sister ship Glen Rosa have faced multi-year delays.The Glen Sannox and her sister ship Glen Rosa have faced multi-year delays. (Image: Jane Barlow/PA)

A company statement posted on LinkedIn said: “MV Glen Sannox’s LNG trials are officially underway and off to a good start. The vessel is currently sailing in the Firth of Clyde around the Cumbrae Isles at moderate speeds of circa 12 knots using LNG.

“Over the next three days, MV Glen Sannox will travel up and down the Clyde and surrounding areas, rigorously testing the capabilities of the LNG engines and evaluating the vessel’s manoeuvrability, acceleration and speed.

“She will return to Inchgreen at approximately 4pm each day.”

Acceptance trials will begin on September 30 and run until October 4.

The Glen Sannox first undertook sea trials earlier this year.

She and sister ship, the Glen Rosa, have faced years of issues and delays.


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The liquefied natural gas (LNG) required to run the ferries requires a cooling system to keep it at about minus 160C, but the nationalised yard has had trouble reaching the required temperature, leading to delays.

The two vessels will eventually serve the west coast of Scotland when they enter service after delivery to CalMac, but were due to be completed in 2018 at a cost of just £97 million.

Six years and hundreds of millions of pounds later, the ferries are yet to be handed over.

Both Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa were designed from the outset to be “dual fuel” ferries, able to run on both traditional marine gas oil and LNG.

But problems installing the LNG system have been behind some of the repeated delays in delivering the two ferries, with the shipyard dealing with these issues over the past year.