LOSING out on a multi-million pound ferries contract could signal the beginning of the end for Ferguson Marine if the tide doesn't change at the yard, according to senior Inverclyde politicians.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) has snubbed the Ferguson's workforce by not inviting the yard to bid for a contract to build two ferries for Islay.

The Tele understands that Ferguson Marine put itself forward at the first stage of the procurement process but was not selected for the shortlist and has not been invited to tender.

CMAL has confirmed that one shipyard in Romania, one in Poland and two in Turkey have made it through to the final stage.

Alba councillor Chris McEleny expressed his fury at the decision.

He is now calling for the Scottish Government to scrap CMAL and guarantee that all future ferry contracts go to the Port yard.

Mr McEleny said: "This is an absolute betrayal of the workforce of Ferguson's and a betrayal of the people of Inverclyde.

"If the Scottish Government does not guarantee the yard future CalMac ferry contracts, then this could be a death knell for the yard."

He has blasted Ferguson's turnaround director Tim Hair and says he's managed to 'turn work away from the yard instead of turning it around'.

Mr McEleny added: "The turnaround director has been paid over £1.5m.

"You would think that a basic aspect of this would be the ability to submit a successful bid for future work.

"We were told earlier this month that all was well with the management of the yard. If all is well then why was the yard's application rejected?"

Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe says he believes that Ferguson Marine should benefit from 'direct awards' from the Scottish Government and automatically be awarded Scottish contracts.

But as the shipyard is still currently required to compete for business, he believes questions need to be asked about why its application wasn't deemed up to scratch.

He said: "This is a blow to the yard, to the workforce and to the wider Inverclyde community.

"The Scottish Government has promised new vessels and ferries for routes across Scotland and you would hope that a Scottish yard that's owned by the Scottish Government would have made it onto the shortlist to submit a tender.

"At this point, Ferguson's does have to compete. The yard is still completing outstanding contracts, but management obviously believed they were in a position to bid."

CMAL said that applications were judged on 'technical expertise' and 'financial strength'.

Mr McCabe is now planning to write to Scotland's finance secretary Kate Forbes to seek an explanation as to why the yard failed.

He added: "Questions need to be asked as to why CMAL didn't feel that Ferguson's had the technical expertise to deliver a project like this.

"It is owned by the Scottish Government, so should certainly have the financial strength to deliver the contract.

"There's no reason to believe that CMAL didn't conduct the tendering process in a fair and transparent way."

The council leader believes that one of the reasons for sending the business overseas could be down to finances.

He added: "The Scottish Government is perhaps looking for cheaper labour.

"It thinks it can get a cheaper price by going to yards overseas instead of paying Scottish workers to build Scottish ships in a Scottish yard.

"We have a yard that should be capable of building these ships right on our doorstep.

"Why would we instead choose to build them abroad?"

Mr McCabe says he still has confidence in the local workforce and believes the onus is now on the Scottish Government to make the yard a success.

He added: "It's too early to say that Ferguson's is in any trouble.

"I still think that the yard has a bright future ahead of it but the Scottish Government needs to work harder to secure its future.

"They took it on. They didn't need to nationalise it - but they did.

"If the yard does fail, the Scottish Government will have no one else to blame but itself."

In the wake of CMAL's decision, the Scottish Government said it is 'fully committed' to Ferguson's.

A spokesperson added: "While it is disappointing that Ferguson Marine has been unsuccessful on this occasion, we are fully committed to supporting the yard to secure a sustainable future.

"This includes a pipeline of future work to help protect jobs and commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde.

"The Scottish Government stands firm on our commitment to the vessels, the workforce, and the yard at Ferguson Marine."

GMB Scotland Organiser Gary Cook said: “The manufacture of the ships Scotland needs will now be exported to the rest of the world – our commercial shipbuilding sector is mirroring the failure of our offshore wind sector.

“Ferries paid for by the public purse will be manufactured in Eastern Europe or Turkey, that’s jobs and value that should be coming to Inverclyde going elsewhere."