ANOTHER milestone was reached this week in the building of the Glen Sannox ferry at Ferguson’s shipyard — and it will be shown on TV in a couple of weeks.

BBC’s The One Show was at the Port yard to film the 16 tonne bridge being lifted on to the ship by a special 220 crane hired for the job.

The lift took only five minutes, but director of business development, John Morgan, said a lot of careful planning went into it, to make sure everything went smoothly.

He said: “The bridge is made of aluminium.

“It was quite windy during the lift, but it was all done very carefully and now people passing the yard can see the Glen Sannox really taking shape.

“This was one of the major pieces that had to be lifted into position.”

Mr Morgan says sheeting is currently covering the ferry to protect paintwork, but is due to come off soon.

He said: “Then the public will be able to see the ship in all her splendour.”

Glen Sannox was originally due to be launched on September 21, but this has been changed to November 21 to allow time for more extensive fitting out.

It’s believed Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, may attend to launch the vessel.

Glen Sannox is the first of two CalMac dual fuel vessels being supplied by Ferguson’s in a contract worth £97 million.

It was placed by Port Glasgow-based Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL), which owns the vessels and piers used by the ferry company.

The 102-metre ships will be the first in the UK to use environmentally-friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG) and marine gas oil.

Glen Sannox will ply the Ardrossan to Arran route for CalMac, and she is expected to enter service in the second half of next year.

Her sister ship being built at the yard will go on the Skye ‘triangle’ route a few months later.