Glen Rosa delayed again as SNP Government ferry fiasco drags on for another year
The Glen Rosa was supposed to be launched in 2018 and enter service the following year but has been subject to repeated delays.
The shipyard at the centre of the one biggest scandals of the devolution era has announced another delay in the competition of a long-awaited car ferry.
Ferguson Marine, which was nationalised by SNP ministers in 2019, said it would not be able to complete the Glen Rosa until the second quarter of 2026.
The ferry was supposed to be launched in 2018 and enter service for Caledonian Macbrayne the following year on the Troon - Arran route.
Bosses at the Port Glasgow shipyard said the final bill will be £185m - up from the last estimate for £150m.
Glen Sannox, the sister ferry of Glen Rosa, finally entered service earlier this year after suffering similar delays.
The decision by SNP ministers in 2015 to award the contract to build the two ferries to Ferguson Marine has been repeatedly questioned in the decade since.
The yard was saved from collapse by billionaire Jim McColl in 2014 but it collapsed into administration five years later with work on the ferries already hugely delayed.
Former Babcock chief executive Graeme Thomson joined Ferguson Marine as its new chief executive in March.
He said: 'This is not the announcement we wanted to be making at this stage and cannot overstate our understanding of the importance of providing realistic handover schedules to support CalMac to provide a more reliable and robust service to the communities it serves.
'No one wants to see the swift delivery of MV Glen Rosa more than Ferguson Marine and we are committed to working hard to ensure the vessel is delivered within this window.
'We apologise unreservedly to islanders for this additional delay and want to assure everyone that we are working extremely hard to deliver a quality vessel that showcases the skill and experience of Clydebuilt ships."
Lib Dem MSP Jamie Greene said: "This latest delay is another hammer blow to Scotland's islanders, who will be utterly livid at this bad news.
"The severe delay announced is beyond anything expected and now raises serious questions for Scottish ministers.
"The MV Glen Rosa should have been delivered back in 2018, now islanders might have to wait until after the next Scottish Parliament election before this vessel enters service, which is a disgrace.
"The hard-working staff at Ferguson Marine have been let down by bosses, all paid huge sums of public cash, yet islanders are still waiting on their ferries. Not a single SNP minister has lost their job over this fiasco.
"We demand an urgent statement to Parliament by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport to explain this enormous delay."
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