BILLIONAIRE businessman Jim McColl has likened a heavily delayed order for two new ferries at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow to an 'albatross' around the shipbuilder's neck.

Costs for the state-of-the-art Caledonian MacBrayne vessels have spiralled as the contract has fallen more than a year behind schedule and the final bill could be £50M over budget.

Mr McColl — who owns the yard — said: "This is a real albatross around our neck.

"If we could just wave a magic wand and get rid of those two vessels that would be a godsend to us because they've just been a headache from day one.

"I think we're probably running between 40 to 50 per cent over budget which amounts to roughly £40-£50m."

A row broke out earlier this year between Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and Mr McColl over delays to the Glen Sannox ferry, which had to have its bow completely replaced.

Mr McColl blamed CMAL — which controls the CalMac fleet — for design changed and cost hikes but this was flatly rejected by the publicly-owned ferry operator.

Mr McColl has admitted that a number of alterations were down to his yard but he insists that many are the responsibility of CMAL.

In an interview with STV News, the tycoon said: "We've documented over 600 design changes.

"Now, some of those are down to us, but a good chunk of them that have impacted the schedule and the cost are as a result of changes requested by CMAL.

"The design of the propellers, the ultimate overall length of the ship, we've been changing quite a bit from the beginning."

Ferguson is threatening legal action against CMAL to cover the costs of the extra work.

CMAL has rejected Mr McColl's argument.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government agency said: "Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (FMEL) is under contract to supply the design and build of the two dual fuel ferries.

"It is an industry standard design and build contract with a fixed price and defined delivery dates.

"FMEL entered into the contract with full and prior knowledge of the specification and terms of the contract.

"CMAL fundamentally disagrees with any assertion that there have been significant design changes to the vessels."