THE publicly-owned Port company at the centre of the £97m new ferries row which crippled Ferguson's has slammed a local councillor who said the government should consider scrapping it.

The SNP's Chris McEleny said ministers should look at breaking up Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) as he called for an inquiry into the role it played in the crisis at the shipyard.

Mr McEleny accused CMAL chiefs of 'interference' in the lead up to the yard being taken under Scottish Government control last Friday - something the company has strongly denied.

The councillor also claimed that the board of the organisation 'threatened to resign' en masse if ministers did not side with them in their bitter dispute with the yard's ex-owners Clyde Blowers Capital (CBC) over the botched order for two 100-metre dual-fuel ferries.

Councillor McEleny has written to finance and economy secretary, Derek Mackay, calling for a review of the company.

He said: "Having engaged with various stakeholders, it is clear to me that CMAL was fundamentally involved in how the current ferry situation has resulted in the government being required to step in. "I'm alarmed to learn that the board of CMAL threatened to resign en masse if the government did not support the stance they had taken with CBC.

"In the interest of transparency, I request the following: publishing of correspondence in which the board of CMAL threatened to resign and a full review into the future of CMAL, with all options on the table, including the disbanding of the organisation - with CalMac taking on the functions it delivers."

Bosses at the company - the government offshoot responsible for state-owned ships and harbours in the west of Scotland - have hit back strongly at Mr McEleny's outburst and say he is ill-informed.

A CMAL spokesperson said: "We are gravely disappointed by the comments made by Councillor McEleny. "His comments regarding CMAL are wholly inaccurate. "We are astonished that a local elected member feels it is appropriate to criticise a local organisation and its hard-working employees, and to make false statements about a situation he evidently has little knowledge of, while at same time, his colleagues in government are working really hard to sort out the situation. "Councillor McEleny claims to have engaged with various stakeholders, but he has never attempted to engage with CMAL on this matter.

"We are a key stakeholder, as well as a long-standing business and employer in the Inverclyde area and a tenant of the council.

"There have been many occasions over the past two years when we have been falsely accused of interference, none of which have any legal standing, and we have always strongly rejected these claims."

CMAL, which is based in the Municipal Buildings in Port Glasgow, placed the ferry order with Ferguson Marine in October 2015.

Mr Mackay, who was transport minister when the contract was signed, will nationalise the yard if a commercial buyer cannot be found over the next four weeks.

Ferguson Marine is currently in administration but under government control as part of an agreement to retain the 300-strong workforce while thrashing out a plan to complete the unfinished vessels.

The CMAL spokesperson added: "Our priority is the completion of the two dual vessels as soon as is practical. "The vessels are desperately needed to ease pressure on the ferry fleet serving island communities on the west coast. "We are committed to working in partnership with the shipyard's new management team to establish what needs to be done to complete the vessels and create a realistic timeline in which this can be achieved."

The Scottish Government says it is 'unaware of any threatened resignations by the CMAL board'. They added: "We will response to Councillor McEleny's letter in due course."