THE boss of Ferguson's today predicted a 'bright future' for the shipyard as it moves towards completing the two CalMac ferries and looks at landing lucrative warship and windfarm work.

Chief executive David Tydeman says that as well as being focused on finally delivering the two vessels he wants to sign new orders, having re-established the yard's relationships with key partners since taking charge.

He also revealed how vital lessons have been learned from the failures with the five-years-late MV Glen Sannox, as work on her sister ship Hull 802 continues apace.

Mr Tydeman spoke as he showcased his workforce to the Tele during a guided tour of the Newark yard, saying the staff had been unfairly tarnished during five years of controversy over the ferry delays.

He has revamped work programmes since the departure of former 'turnaround' director Tim Hair and drawn up a strategy to have Ferguson's order book bulging.

Having recently taken up a key position to inform the UK Government's National Shipbuilding Strategy, he is now positioning the yard for warship work and to unlock the 'huge potential' of the offshore windfarm industry.

Mr Tydeman said: "This is a class workforce, and the yard has a great history.

"There are a lot of skills here locally and the apprentice programme is an important part of investing in the future.

"The National Shipbuilding Strategy — a commitment from Westminster to build 180 ships in the UK over 30 years — has made a difference.

"The warship programme is a significant part of it, and the windfarm market is growing.

"I think we could build support ships for windfarms.

"There is a collaboration agenda being pushed through the National Shipbuilding Strategy, and I've joined the Shipbuilding Enterprise Group, representing UK commercial shipyards, to try and be part of that voice."

A launch date of February next year has now been confirmed for the seven-deck Hull 802, while Glen Sannox is currently at Dales Marine's Greenock yard for what has been described as 'finishing touches' ahead of her expected completion between March and May.

As he gave the Tele a tour of the superstructure Mr Tydeman admitted that his job has brought problems since he took it on in February, having inherited serious issues with Glen Sannox.

Mr Tydeman said: "The build strategy adopted by FMEL [the former Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd] in 2015 and 2016 saw the ship launched in 2017 without an awful lot inside it.

"There were a lot of things done out of sequence.

"You had things that were tripping over each other because the sequencing wasn't right.

"So you're now exploring as well as doing the work.

"You've got to survey, investigate, check the drawings and then plan the work."

Mr Tydeman said Glen Sannox was launched weighing 2,200 tons but Hull 802 will be 3,000 tons when she hits the water because structural modules currently being fabricated will be fitted beforehand.

He said: "We looked at any areas that we can improve, learning from that ship [Glen Sannox] so we build the second one better.

"We know that we can't be proud of the method of 801 [Glen Sannox], but we can be proud of the end ship, we hope.

"We can be proud of the way we do 802, because we've spent a bit of time in planning it and showing what we're good at, and the end product will be good as well."

Mr Tydeman says one of the biggest challenges over recent months has been to overcome the negativity surrounding the shipyard after five years of controversy.

He said: "The sense I got when arriving in February was that there was no pride.

"We were just being hit all the time with, 'The ships are late, they're over-budget, it was a mistake to do them'.

"The reason I got on the phone to my counterparts in BAE and Babcock, and started to explore the warship programme, and got close to CMAL and started talking to their chief executive Kevin Hobbs, is because the morale of the team here depends on seeing a future.

"My confidence in holding to programme schedules and having the ships operating is increasing all the time.

"I think there is a bright future for the yard."

Mr Tydeman says he plans to stay with Ferguson's for the foreseeable future.

Asked how long he intends to remain in post, Mr Tydeman said: "A few years.

"I'm 67, and I don't want to work too much into my 70s, but I want to deliver these ships and I want to sign some new orders."