PUBLICLY-OWNED Ferguson Marine has awarded a £777,550 contract to a private firm to help resolve the ferries fiasco without carrying out a tender exercise.

The award has been made to Kirkintilloch-based Alliance Project Controls Ltd to supervise construction work of the unfinished ferries at the Newark shipyard.

Ferguson won the £97 million contract to build two new ferries for Arran and the Hebrides back in 2015.

The ships were to be a new hybrid design, powered by marine diesel oil and liquefied natural gas, but construction fell way behind schedule.

One of the ferries, MV Glen Sannox – which is destined for the Arran-Ardrossan route – was 'launched' by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and had been due to enter service in the summer of 2018, but construction delays meant that was put back.

The second vessel, known as Hull 802, was supposed to be delivered to CalMac in the autumn of 2018 for use on the Uig-Lochmaddy-Tarbert triangle, but that has also been held up.

Last summer the yard collapsed owing more than £49m to the Scottish Government, and it was eventually taken into public ownership.

It has led to a war of words between former Ferguson owner, tycoon Jim McColl, the Scottish Government and Port Glasgow-based Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL), the taxpayer-funded company which owns and procures ferries.

The fiasco has also raised concerns about the nation’s ferry procurement process now ensconced within four levels of Scottish Government controlled bodies: CMAL, Ferguson Marine as ferry builders, Transport Scotland as funders, and ferry operators CalMac.

In February, the Competition & Markets Authority watchdog warned of the dangers of government-owned Ferguson Marine being awarded work without a competitive tender process.

That warning came as the Scottish Government faced questions about failing to notify the EU about nationalising Ferguson Marine.

The EU has also previously confirmed it was not notified about the issuing of two commercial loans to the yard, totalling £45m, before it plunged into administration and then public ownership.

The Alliance Controls contract award details reveal that it was made without prior publication for a 'call for competition' in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The justification given for avoiding going to tender is given as: “Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority...”

It said the project manager was originally contracted when Ferguson Marine were in administration and that “this is therefore a continuation of that contract”.

The details briefing continued: “The services offered by the supplier were identified as a key requirement to get the planning of a detailed build programme for the vessels and create a schedule that would allow the ships to be built in the shortest time possible.”

It said the contract was awarded in accordance with Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulation 33.1 (ii) on the basis there is “now a body of knowledge and understanding built up by the supplier that cannot be readily transferred within a reasonable timescale”.

In March last year, FMEL said the costs to build the ferries had soared from £97m to over £195m.

The former management believe that figure has now soared to over £300m and a parliamentary inquiry into the debacle is under way at Holyrood.

The Scottish Government said: “The supplier was originally contracted while Ferguson Marine were in administration, this is therefore a continuation of that contract.

“The services offered by the supplier were identified as key requirement to get the planning of a detailed build programme for the vessels and create a schedule that would allow the ships to be built in the shortest time possible.”

Alliance Project Controls were approached for comment.