ISSUES with short cabling are set to further delay and increase costs over the already put back delivery of two green vessels at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco.
The latest 'bombshell' emerged after it was found on Christmas Eve that some of the electrical cable coils on one vessel currently languishing in state-controlled Ferguson Marine's Port Glasgow shipyard were too short to reach equipment.
After a survey it was found that there were at least 400 problem cables - and a worse case scenario of 939 cables.
A new analysis from outgoing turnaround director Tim Hair reveals that addressing the problem is a "time-consuming process" that will further delay the project to deliver the Glen Sannox which was due to serve on one of Scotland's busiest crossing, the Ardrossan to Arran service in May, 2018.
He said it will also further delay the completion of the second vessel known as Hull 802 which was also supposed to be sailing in July, 2018.
Mr Hair said that at present it is "not possible" to determine the impact on schedule and cost.
Last month serious questions were raised over the viability of both vessels as it emerged key hull features had been left off seven years after the design was completed.
Scottish Conservative Shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP said: “This latest fiasco at Ferguson is another hammer blow for island communities, who have had to put up with a sub-standard ferry service under the SNP for far too long.
“Glen Sannox is already years late, and this blunder will leave people wondering if it will ever go into service.
“The ship was meant to support one of CalMac’s busiest crossing routes between Ardrossan to Brodick but this further hold-up means passengers will have to make do even longer with ageing and increasingly-unreliable ferries.
“We need to be told the cost and time implications of the latest blunder at this the SNP-owned shipyard, which is in danger of becoming a laughing stock.”
The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon responded to the latest issues with the ferries saying: "Firstly, this is an issue around cabling that was installed by Ferguson Marine contractors in late 2018 and early 2019, prior to the shipyard coming into public ownership. The government and the finance secretary will be working closely with the yard to ensure that this is rectified as quickly as possible and as cost effectively as possible and she will of course keep parliament fully updated."
Ministers carried out a takeover after Jim McColl-led Ferguson Marine went into administration in August, 2019 following a dispute with Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) - the taxpayer-funded company which owns and procures ferries for the Scottish Government - over the construction of the ferries under a £97m fixed price contract.
Ferguson Marine said there had been "unforeseen complexities" with the project, leading to soaring costs of the ferry contract - which have now more than doubled.
Ministers believe they were acting in the public interest in taking control of Ferguson Marine, as it saved the yard from closure, rescued more than 300 jobs and ensured that the two vessels under construction will be completed.
Concerns emerged last month over a failure to install a crucial ducktail on either vessel, even though previous owners of the Ferguson Marine shipyard said six years ago that they were required to meet official specifications affecting their green credentials and speed.
The ducktail, which runs the full width of the ship, is around eight feet wide and is designed to adds additional buoyance to the hull, allows for speed to be increased naturally, while making it more efficient by reducing resistance and allowing it to burn less fuel.
But it has emerged that it is not in place on Glen Sannox or Hull 802.
The two new dual-fuel ferries, which were meant to be identical, were once hailed as a step towards a greener future for Scotland's state owned CalMac ferry fleet as they were to be the first UK-built ships capable of running off liquefied natural gas, or LNG, as well as conventional diesel.
But there has been concern that the new vessels will not meet the specifications set down by CMAL, with the possibility they could end up rejected.
The £793,000-a-year turnaround director said in December that delivery dates for the two lifeline ferries were expected to fall further behind schedule because of technical issues with both vessels, including the ducktail issue and the progression of the Omicron variant.
In what meant to be a final analysis before leaving his post he said that at their request state-owned Ferguson Marine have for some time been in discussion with Scottish Government, Transport Scotland and CMAL regarding the ducktail which have "the potential to impact the schedule for delivery".
There were also delays in the installation of pipework on Glen Sannox.
Mr Hair, who was appointed after the shipyard went into administration in 2019 is being replaced by a new chief executive David Tydeman, who has worked for several decades in the marine, shipbuilding and offshore industries.
He is expected to provide details of the revised schedule and project cost in the next quarterly update which due at the end of March 2022.
Mr Hair, who was charged with implementing a major transformation programme for the troubled shipyard, which recently missed out on an order to build two new CalMac ferries insisted in December that the ferry delivery schedules remained on track.
But he conceded that 'areas of note' have been identified as potential obstacles to achieving those target dates.
A 2020 Holyrood probe into the construction of the ferries branded the management process a "catastrophic failure".
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