ALMOST 20 workers at Ferguson Marine have tested positive for coronavirus as an outbreak affecting the shipyard sees over 40 employees sent home to self-isolate.

Management at the yard today confirmed the cases, which come as they continue work on the two hugely-delayed CalMac ferries.

A source had told the Telegraph that both the pipe and the joinery blocks had been affected, along with other areas of the yard.

But despite the number of people who have contracted Covid bosses say that the yard remains open, with no departments closed.

They added that it was continuing to 'operate normally across all areas'.

It is not yet known if the cases will eventually result in a further knock-on effect on the troubled ferries project.

Turnaround boss Tim Hair said last month that both vessels were a further 15 weeks behind, due to recruitment difficulties.

Director Mr Hair, who was paid almost £800k last year, said the pool of skilled workers was 'insufficient to meet our resource requirements'.

Over the past two weeks a total of 18 employees have tested positive for Covid-19.

They are a mixture of office-based and yard-based staff.

Under public health tracing requirements, the identification of close contacts in the workplace means a total of 45 employees - including the 18 people who tested positive - are currently self-isolating at home.

A spokesperson at Ferguson Marine said: “In recent weeks, we have seen an increase in employees testing positive for Covid-19, reflecting the picture across Scotland.

"We have robust Covid-19 measures in place for many months to protect our employees, subcontractors and the local community.

"These protocols were developed in collaboration with trade unions and are being following stringently.

"Currently, we don’t anticipate any impact on operations.”

The Covid outbreak is the latest headache for the yard after the Tele recently revealed how it was almost a hundred workers short of the amount of staff needed to get the two ferries finished.

MV Glen Sannox is now scheduled to be delivered between July and September next year and Hull 802 is due to be completed between April and July 2023 according to Mr Hair.