Eight years late, and now a new incredibly convenient reason to delay Glen Rosa ferry – Alastair Dalton

Among the many vessel sagas on which I’ve reported, that concerning the pair built at the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow is the one that threatens to never end. Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa were ordered in 2015 and should both have been completed three years later.

But, for a host of reasons, including the impact of the yard twice collapsing, Glen Sannox was not finished until 2024. Glen Rosa is still being built, an extraordinary eight-and-a-half years after it should have been delivered.

You’ll not be surprised that many promised completion dates have come and gone over the years. The last one, which was set a year ago, was to be by the end of December.

However, for months, well-placed sources have been telling me that that deadline is unachievable, with the tangible evidence being the lack of any sea trials, which the yard had sought to bring forward to September so any major problems thrown up by this acid test in a ship’s development could be identified “as soon as possible”.

But with just two months left, and still no word as to when the trials will take place, I was struggling to work out last week how the ferry could possibly be ready in time.

After all, as the yard’s keenness to get the sea trials underway indicated, the two sets of these are not just another item on a completion checklist, but when the ship moves under its own power for the first time and is tested to its limits.

When an update on the progress of the build came on Thursday, the yard again stuck to its previous insistence of “remaining confident in our ability” of meeting the December deadline.

However, the surprise twist was that Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn had agreed for delivery to be put back to February so that replacement propellers – needed because vibration from Glen Sannox’s had cracked its hull – could be fitted.

How incredibly convenient, I thought – a shipyard up against a major deadline it absolutely couldn’t miss appearing to being given another two months’ of wriggle room to finish the job.

Installing the propeller blades now rather than later may be the most efficient and least disruptive option, but announcing this out of the blue at this critical juncture is not a good look for the yard.

It may also be a hostage to fortune because I understand the sea trials will not now take place until after the propellers have been replaced, which may not be until the end of January.

However, Ferguson Marine has disputed this. It told me on Tuesday: “Builder's sea trials are due to commence soon. While there may be a short additional sea trial after the propellers are fitted, the intention is to complete both builder's and owner's sea trials before the end of the year.”

A further unknown is that Glen Sannox is due to have its propellers replaced as part of its annual overhaul at the end of this month – and all parties involved will want to be sure that has fixed the problem before they are also fitted to Glen Rosa.

All that opens up the possibility that the ferry will not be ready for delivery to CalMac until after the end of February. I’m told it could be into March, or even later.

As I’ve seen repeated many times in transport, those who set or are bound by completion deadlines don’t admit they won’t be met until long after pretty much everyone else knows it.

However, when you’ve got a shipyard, ferry-buying firm and ferry operator all owned by the Scottish government, no one is going to put their heads above the parapet and tell it as it is.

The pressure is intensified by Ferguson Marine having no significant other work, and also needing the public trust and credibility to be directly awarded contracts for more ferries by ministers, let alone to win orders on the open market.

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So it’s not surprising – and I don’t think too cynical – to suppose that a reason needed to be found for extending the December deadline. It begs many questions. Will we ever know if the ship could have been finished by then? And what will be the consequences if it is not delivered by the end of February?

Glen Sannox, despite its propeller and other teething troubles, has proved to be a capable and comfortable addition to the CalMac fleet – I was impressed by its sea handling and the range of its passenger seating areas and facilities on its official first sailing in January last year.

I expect Glen Rosa will be the same, and with the two ferries also being CalMac’s second biggest, they will become key additions at a time when the operator is desperate to improve the reliability of its vessels, several of which are way beyond normal retirement age.

However, for now they remain mill stones around the neck of Ferguson Marine, which will have hoped to have been able to quickly and quietly complete Glen Rosa, having no doubt heaved a huge sigh of relief at finally getting Glen Sannox completed and off its hands.

The longer this saga continues, the larger the question mark over the shipyard being handed contracts for more vessels, even if that proves to be legal – and work on that seems to be progressing at a snail’s pace despite the increasingly urgent need to find something else for the yard to build.