FERGUSON’S has won a massive £97 million contract to build two new ferries — a deal which will more than DOUBLE the size of the workforce at the Port Glasgow yard.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was in town yesterday to name the firm as preferred bidder for the deal to construct two 100-metre vessels for use on current Caledonian MacBrayne routes.

Ms Sturgeon was joined by billionaire businessman Jim McColl, who rescued the business from administration last year and is currently funding a huge transformation of its facilities.

The Clyde Blowers Capital boss spoke of his delight at the announcement and revealed that staff numbers will soar from 150 to around 400 when the ferry deal is finalised.

The First Minister meanwhile reflected on the rapid change in fortunes of the Port yard just 12 months after the doors almost closed for good.

Speaking to the Tele, Ms Sturgeon said: “I’ve been astonished at just how quickly this yard has turned around.

“I was last here in December and from then until now there are massive differences — it just feels much more like a yard on the up.

“Obviously there’s a lot of investment being spent here, there’s a lot of plans for the future — this yard is going to be able to build much bigger vessels than it previously did and it’s got flexibility built into it, so there’s every reason to be optimistic.

“The workers that are employed here just now can be fairly secure about their jobs for the foreseeable future but there’s also plans to expand the workforce and employ more apprentices, so to come here just a year after this yard was literally on the brink of closure and to see it so optimistic about the future is absolutely fantastic.” The yard, rebranded Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (FMEL) by the new owners, will also become a leading light in Europe, according to Mr McColl.

He told the Telegraph: “It’s great news for the yard and as you can see we have already started the modernisation.

“I think we will be very well-equipped to be one of the leading competitive yards in Europe and getting this order, the timing is fantastic because we’re going to be finishing all the modification work here just in time to get started with the new ferries.

“When we bought this over from the administrator there were five or seven people that the administrator had kept, so we took on everyone that had been made redundant, which took it up to about 70 and today we are at 153.

“That’s within one year of the business being in administration, so that’s a great achievement in itself.

“On the back of the news today we would be able to build that up to 350-400 fairly quickly and we’ve got a five-year plan in which the top end scenario we’ve got, the most optimistic one, shows us getting to 1,300 employees here by 2020.

“That’s the scenario we’re pushing for here.” Subject to formal approval of the contract and a mandatory 10-day ‘standstill period’, the first ferry is expected to be completed by early 2018 with the second following a few months later.

They are earmarked for use on the Ardrossan-Brodick and ‘Uig triangle’ routes, although a final decision will be made by service operators CalMac.

The ships will be equipped to carry 127 cars or 16 HGVs, or a combination of, and up to 1,000 passengers.

Ferguson’s will carry out the design and construction work as well as testing, equipping, launching and delivery.

The contract will be awarded through Port Glasgow-based Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) — which owns ferries and harbours in the west coast — on behalf of the Scottish Government.

The new vessels will be the largest commercial ships built on the Clyde in 14 years.

Erik Østergaard, chairman of CMAL, said: “I am delighted that we are able to name FMEL as the preferred tenderer for this contract and be in a position to enter discussions with them on the final terms and conditions.

“Subject to agreement on all points, we hope to be in a position to finalise the award of the contract later in September.

“We have undertaken a complex process of technical evaluation to ensure the new vessels will meet CalMac’s rigorous requirements on capacity, speed, draft and dual fuel capabilities, including the ability to operate a wide number of harbours and routes over their lifetime.

“We are confident that the specification from FMEL can deliver on all of these conditions.

“We have worked with the team at Ferguson’s on the build of previous vessels for our fleet and most recently on our three smaller hybrid ferries and we look forward to continuing this successful relationship.” An £8m transformation of the facilities at Ferguson’s is well under way, with the demolition of an ageing fabrication shed.

It will be replaced by a new modern facility symbolic of the dramatic rebirth of the Port yard, where staff are currenty working on a hybrid-powered ferry for CalMac.

The turnaround has pleased owner Mr McColl, who says it is just the start of things to come.

He said: “These are two hundred-metre ferries and we are gearing up to do between four and six a year, so it gives us a good foundation on which to build some more.

“We’ve got quite a number of bids out just now for other vessels, other ferries and we’re also looking at other areas like refit and so on.

“We’re getting the yard all sorted out so we can do refits, which is a business they’ve not been able to tap into before, and there are not many yards in the UK that can do that.

“It’s looking very promising.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity here, I think this place is going to go from strength to strength and it’ll be one of the leading commercial shipbuilding yards in Europe.” Scottish Government transport minister Derek Mackay says Ferguson’s ticked all the boxes in terms of quality and cost.

He said: “This is a significant investment that proves Scottish shipbuilding can succeed in a competitive market, with the FMEL team submitting the highest quality bid that offered best value for money.

“The vessels themselves will be dual-fuel ferries, allowing them to use cleaner fuel and future-proofing them for the advent of tighter regulations around sulphur emissions.

“This announcement will strengthen our ferry fleet, ensuring they will be able to benefit the communities that need them for decades to come.”