SCOTLAND'S ferry fiasco vessels are worth £220m less that it has so far cost to build them, it has been revealed.
It has emerged that Ferguson Marine believes the total market price of the two much-delayed ferries is just £140m while the capital costs of the project has soared from an original £97m contract price to £360m - plus a “contingency” spend of up to £30.6m.
MSPs are continuing to raise concerns about why the Port Glasgow shipyard under the ownership of then independence supporting tycoon Jim McColl was awarded the contract to build the ferries Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa with both vessels now six years late and costs soaring above the original £97m contract.
Ministers were warned five years ago by their own advisers that they faced ploughing in millions more to prop up Scotland's crisis-hit nationalised shipyard firm after having twice stepped in to bail them out while under threat of going under.
READ MORE: All you need to know about the Ferguson Marine bailout
Consultants PwC told ministers in an analysis before ministers approved a second £30m loan bailout that there remained "further risks" for Ferguson Marine which may result in it needing further funding in the future.
The Scottish Government procured advice from PwC to fashion two loan deals worth £15m and then £30m to the company and said that they said the funds would soon be exhausted.
The Scottish Government propped up the financially troubled yard twice in the space of a year in 2017 and 2018 - having gone into administration three years earlier.
It had been claimed that the disastrous £97m contract to build two lifeline ferries was rigged in favour the firm run by Mr McColl, who rescued the yard in the summer of 2014 in a move partly brokered by former First Minister Alex Salmond, who kept the entrepreneur abreast of businesses that needed saving.
The shipyard firm went into administration again in August, 2019 - just over a year after the second Scottish Government bailout loan amidst soaring costs and delays in the construction of the two ferries and was nationalised with Mr McColl's Ferguson Marine and the Scottish Government-owned ferry procurer CMAL blaming each other for what went wrong.
The Ferguson Marine board admitted there was a "significant doubt" over its ability to continue as a going concern due to doubts over future funding in its last 2021/22 financial statement.
And Auditor General Stephen Boyle said at the end of April that there remained doubts over the long term future of the shipyard firm because of a lack of a business plan.
The Scottish Government had already committed £128m through £45m in loans and milestone payment costs for the ferries before nationalisation before sanctioning the ploughing in of just over £330m into Ferguson Marine since coming under state control at the end of 2019 - including a further £72m budgeted for the next financial year after eight months of due diligence - with the firm's primary aim to deliver the ferries.
Ministers were accused of presiding over an “outrageous mismanagement of public funds” after pressing ahead with the second ferry at the Ferguson shipyard, known only as Hull 802, despite learning through the due diligence that it would be cheaper to scrap the vessel and tender for a new one.
The Scottish Government overspent against budget to the tune of over £121.9m over the last three financial years in the wake of continuing delays in the production of two vessels being built to serve island communities. Their delivery has been put back six years in the wake of the soaring costs.
A ferry user group spokesman said: "The numbers that are being spoken about in relation to these ferries are mind-boggling. But it seems to me that the Scottish Government have made their bed and decided they have to lie on it no matter what the cost."
It comes as the head of the nationalised Ferguson Marine said the safety regulator is partly to blame for delays in safety clearances for two vessels at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco which is estimated to have contributed to cost rises of £24m Official checks on the long-delayed Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which is responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy, were rejected on June 1 this year sparking a redesign.
David Tydeman, chief executive of nationalised Ferguson Marine has admitted he knew about the problems within three months of him joining the firm in February, 2022. But the issues did not become public knowledge until last month.
Among the issues to be resolved surrounded the installation of the evacuation routes on the ferries in order to satisfy the MCA.
The chief executive of the MCA said the safety rules relating to the vessels had been in place since 2009.
Ferguson Marine had originally indicated that it approached the safety body about the escape routes on April 11, 2023 and the plan was rejected sparking a redesign.
The issues related to requirements over additional protection to ladders and stairways as well as fire shelters and a means of escape from workshops within machinery spaces.
One of the key issues was a reliance of passengers exiting through areas dedicated to crew.
David Tydeman, chief executive of nationalised Ferguson Marine had said that the issues had been the result of the MCA reassessing cargo ship rules.
But the MCA has denied that it has changed any rules, saying it had been working with the shipyard since 2015 before it was nationalised, with a working relationship restarted in August 2020.
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