THE head of the Port Glasgow shipyard at the centre of Scotland's ferries fiasco has hinted at further potential delays to the completion of the overdue and over-budget vessels.
David Tydeman says 'supplier issues around the commissioning of the LNG (liquefied natural gas) systems' could push back the finishing dates for the two new CalMac ferries by up to two months.
In a new briefing issued to the Scottish Parliament's net zero, energy and transport committee, the Ferguson Marine CEO said bosses are 'urgently exploring mitigating actions' and an update will be provided at the end of January.
Earlier this week, MV Glen Sannox - which is due to be delivered in March 2024 - missed a major milestone as bad weather put paid to a planned trip to a dry dock.
READ MORE: MV Glen Sannox trip to Greenock dry dock called off by wind
Mr Tydeman wrote in his letter to the committee's convenor, Edward Mountain MSP: 'The ship was ready as planned to move under her own propulsion - with tugs in attendance, one with lines attached - and it is disappointing that we missed this significant milestone to demonstrate the good progress with the programme.
"Due to advance bookings for the dry dock for other vessels, we will now have to take our turn, proceed with the trials programme in January to March, and have booked the earliest available dry dock dates of April 3-7."
The chief executive stated that 'build progress remains on track' to launch sister vessel, MV Glen Rosa, previously known as Hull 802, on March 12.
The ferry, scheduled for arrival in 2025, will then move alongside the shipyard quayside, where Glen Sannox is currently based.
The vessels, that are set to serve the Ardrossan-Brodick route, are already more than five years late and are expected to cost around four times the original £97 million budget outlined in the 2015 contract.
Cabinet secretary for wellbeing economy, fair work and energy, Neil Gray, said the latest update was 'extremely concerning' and added that 'any further slippage in the programme would have a considerable impact on the island communities'.
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