ONE of the long-delayed CalMac ferries being built at a nationalised shipyard has returned to the water after key remedial works were completed.
MV Glen Sannox, the first of two dual-fuel vessels under construction at Ferguson Marine, was undergoing dry dock work in Greenock.
Bosses said it marked the first major milestone in a revised programme to complete the two vessels, which were at the centre of a disastrous CalMac contract.
It previously emerged the ferries will suffer further delays due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
MV Glen Sannox, destined for the Arran to Ardrossan route, is due to be handed over between April and June 2022.
The other vessel, known as Hull 802 and set for use on the Uig-Lochmaddy-Tarbert triangle, will not be ready until between December 2022 and February 2023.
Both ferries were originally due to be delivered in 2018.
Ferguson Marine won a high-profile £97 million contract to build the two dual-fuel ferries for Caledonian Asset Management Limited (CMAL) in 2015.
However, disputes and a breakdown in relations eventually culminated in the yard falling into administration amid spiralling costs, before it was nationalised last year.
MV Glen Sannox's three-week stint in the dry dock saw a package of remedial work carried out.
This included the replacement of the bulbous bow – a protruding section at the front of the ferry – paint repair, removal of marine growth from the vessel hull and external welding.
Tim Hair, turnaround director at Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd, said: “Following a period of uncertainty due to Covid-19, it has been really gratifying to see our team return to outdoor working on MV Glen Sannox.
“While our office-based colleagues have continued to work from home throughout lockdown, making good progress on design and planning, the dry-docking period marked a key milestone in the project and in getting a substantial proportion of our yard workers back to the task at hand.
“We’ve made some solid strides forward over the last few weeks on MV Glen Sannox and have slightly extended the dry dock period to take advantage of the stability of the vessel whilst stationed there to carry out some additional tasks.
“Now that the ferry has been brought up to its current condition and has returned to our shipyard, the next steps will include work on the superstructure, electrical work and the installation of approximately 16km of pipework.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel