Ferguson Marine: MSPs investigating ferries fiasco visit shipyard

MSPs have visited the shipyard at the centre of a controversial Scottish government ferry-building contract.

Holyrood's public audit committee is investigating the delay in delivering two CalMac ferries being built at the Ferguson Marine yard in Inverclyde.

Convener Richard Leonard said they wanted to speak to staff to get to the bottom of "contradictory evidence" heard by the committee.

The vessels are five years late and could end up being £200m overbudget.

Glen Sannox is due to be the main ferry serving Arran, while the as-yet-unnamed Hull 802 - which was originally due to serve the Western Isles - could also be used on that route after a change the Scottish government's ferry replacement plans.

Islanders fear breakdowns and cancellations of existing ferries will continue to cause serious disruption as they wait for the new vessels to arrive.

The shipyard visit came as the committee prepares to take evidence from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Friday.

Ahead of the visit, Mr Leonard told BBC Scotland he wanted to listen to the perspective of both the management team and the workforce on the evidence already heard by the MSPs.

"There is no doubt that some of the evidence that we have heard is contradictory and we're keen to get the views of the workers and the management team here about what we've heard," he said.

He said the key questions he wanted answered concerned the award of the contract and its terms, and the nationalisation of the yard.

"We've got a duty to find out what's gone wrong and what lessons need to be learned," he said.

Earlier this year leaked documents suggested the process of awarding the £97m ferries contract may have been rigged.

The dossier obtained by BBC Disclosure indicated that successful bidder Ferguson Marine Engineering benefited from preferential treatment.

Government-owned ferries agency CMAL defended the procurement and said a 2018 audit found "no adverse issues". However, Scotland's Auditor General has been asked to investigate.

At an earlier session of the committee, former transport minister Derek MacKay denied the contract was awarded to the Port Glasgow shipyard for political reasons.

Mr Leonard said the committee wanted ask the first minister about the level at which decisions about the ferry contract were made.

"It's clear that the first minister's name has been mentioned in some of the evidence we've taken, whether it's around the announcement of the preferred bidder status of the yard, whether it's about the decision to launch the Glen Sannox a couple of years later, but also about at what level in government were decisions taken," he said.

"The award of the contract, the decision to nationalise the yard - were these decisions taken by ministers? Were these decisions taken by cabinet? Were these decisions with the full involvement of the first minister, or not?

"We've heard contradictory evidence on that, so we're keen to get to the bottom of that."

After the visit, Mr Leonard said they had heard "many open and honest views" and they had been impressed by the "passionate workforce" who took pride in their work.

The delay to the delivery of the ferries is affecting day-to-day life on islands like Arran, according to the island's ferry action group secretary Chris Atkins.

"The sooner we can get this ship in use, the better," he said. "We've got a major problem in the next 18 months until it comes into service because these vessels just keep leaving us in the lurch."

Mr Atkins said repeated cancellations had led to a lack of faith in the service.

"It affects our tourist trade because people are reluctant to travel, it's affecting people getting to medical appointments," he added.

"Typically, they have to go over a day early or more in order to meet a consultant they've perhaps waited a year to see, rather than risk missing that appointment due to a ferry being cancelled due to a breakdown or bad weather."

Meanwhile last week it emerged that one of the ships - MV Glen Sannox - will initially have to run off diesel, despite being built to be capable of running off less-polluting liquified natural gas (LNG).

Ferguson Marine told MSPs a "technical issue" had delayed part of the LNG system by at least nine months.

Robbie Drummond, the managing director of CalMac, said: "I am extremely disappointed that there may be a further delay to the progress of the Glen Sannox and Hull 802.

"We are expecting to receive vessels which are fully commissioned and certified by both the MCA and class authorities, and a 36+ week delay on LNG related parts is a real concern.

"We will now need to examine the potential implications that this delay will have on our future services carefully."