THE SCOTTISH Government-owned ferry operator CalMac has been landed with a £1.6m bill for crew costs for two ferries that have yet to set sail, it can be revealed.
Scottish Government-owned ferry operator CalMac has run up the costs to March this year while there has been delay after delay in the plans to see the Glen Sannox and the unnamed Hull 802 finally take their first passengers.
Details of the taxpayer cash-supported ferry operator's costs which have been described as "astounding" and "outrageous" come amidst further delays to the delivery of two lifeline ferry vessels Glen Sannox and Hull 802.
They are already over five years late with costs initially set for £97m set to at least quadruple.
But there is confusion over who foots the bill, with CalMac first indicating crew salaries were funded by the yard. Later it indicated that costs would be recovered by the yard's owners, the Scottish Government.
Ferguson Marine, the Scottish Government-owned shipyard firm at the centre of the ferry fiasco said: “We are not responsible for paying the wages of CalMac crew.”
"There is no clause in [Ferguson Marine's] contract requiring us to pay crew wages for CalMac staff.”
According to CalMac details the crew costs up to March, this year, are approximately £1.6m. This figure includes salary, travel and subsistence, pension, and National Insurance contributions, but excludes training.
According to CalMac the rate of pay is in line with the salary ranks.
It has emerged that as of March 17, 14 staff have been recruited to support MV Glen Sannox, including three masters, three chief engineers, three second engineers, and five third engineers.
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While the exact start dates of the crew varied, most new crew members have been employed since February 2022.
According to a CalMac document, crew were recruited to support the vessel build activities ongoing at nationalised Ferguson Marine.
The ferry operator said that "crew appointments were all approved by the yard to align with expected vessel delivery date[s]".
It went on: "As such, crew salary is funded via the yard. Once the vessels are delivered and handed over to CalMac, crew costs are attributable to CalMac."
Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain, the former convenor of the rural economy and connectivity committee whose probe into the construction of the ferries for CalMac branded the management process a "catastrophic failure" was astonished at the costs.
Mr Mountain, who has been tracking the spends in relation to both vessels, said: "It's not just the islanders who have been left waiting for the Glen Sannox to be ready, but the crew too.
“We’ve seen delay after delay and budget overrun after overrun, and now we discover that £1.6million has been spent on a crew for a ferry that still hasn’t been finished.
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“It is astounding that crew have been employed for over a year already and I seriously question whether this is providing good value for the taxpayer without one passenger sailing.
“All this is another consequence of this Government’s inability to manage money and jobs.”
It comes as Scotland's public spending auditors said there remains doubts over the long term future of Ferguson Marine because of a lack of a business plan.
Audit Scotland has said questions remain despite attempts by new management to map out a long-term future.
Nationalised Ferguson Marine has previously responded to concerns over its status as a going concern by insisting there is a strong future for the business, despite its last annual financial review for 2021/22 admitting there was "significant doubt" over its ability to continue as a going concern over questions over future funding.
The board of directors went on to say that they are working with the Scottish Government to "continue to develop our strategy and processes to deliver a sustainable business model which will secure the long-term position of the company".
Continued concerns over its future have come as it emerged a new round of bonuses were being made to Ferguson Marine directors - despite an ongoing furore over the failure to deliver two long-delayed ferries.
Ministers have confirmed that a new round of bonuses amounting to over £47,000 is being made to Ferguson Marine directors this year - despite the ongoing furore over the failure to deliver two long-delayed ferries.
Ministers say that further bonuses are legally required to be made for the year 2022/23 despite concerns over £87,000 paid to executives at the ferry fiasco firm in 2021/22.
This brings the total level of bonuses due to be paid out over two years to £134,218.
MV Glen Sannox - which is destined for the Arran-Ardrossan route was due to enter service in the summer of 2018.
READ MORE: Auditors cast new doubt over future of ScotGov-owned Ferguson Marine
The second vessel, known as Hull 802, was supposed to be delivered to ferry operator CalMac in the autumn of 2018 for use on the Uig-Lochmaddy-Tarbert triangle, and was due to be delivered in the spring of 2020 In March it emerged that Glen Sannox was scheduled to be ready in autumn 2023 rather than the end of May 2023 previously estimated, with what Mr Swinney described as a "contract backstop" of no later than the end of December 2023.
Hull 802 is now not expected online till the autumn of 2024 having already been delayed to the end of March 2024. The contract backstop was stated as being at the end of December 2024.
These were the latest in a series rescheduled sailings.
The start of the long line of delays began when the launch of Glen Sannox was initially put back to the summer of 2019, while Hull 802 was due to be delivered by the spring of 2020.
April footage of Glen Sannox being 'fitted out'.
A revised timetable in 2020 had Glen Sannox complete between April and June 2022 and Hull 802 between December 2022 and February 2023.
By June, 2021, there was a further four months delay.
In February, last year, further delays were revealed after a "blunder" which meant that some of a complex network of 9800 cables were too short to reach necessary equipment.
And the following month, it was stated that a further delay meant that Glen Sannox would not take to the water till spring 2023, while Hull 802 would not enter service till the following winter.
A CalMac spokeswoman said: “The crew who have been deployed to the yard to work on MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802, have had their wages paid to them by CalMac. These costs are recovered by us from the yard’s owners (Strategic Commercial Assets Division which is a part of Scottish Government’s Economic Development Directorate) via Transport Scotland."
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