One of the newbuilds delayed for Scottish ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) which is overbudget, requires repairs before it can carry passengers, it has been revealed.
It is understood the lead ship twin, Glen Sannox, has an estimated total cost of between £145.5 million and £149.1 million, due to requiring new cables and pipes arising from rusting.
Workers at the nationalised Clydeside shipyard, Ferguson Marine, will take parts from its delayed dual-fuel twin, the Glen Rosa, to enable speeding up the repairs, according to the Scottish Mail on Sunday.
Shipyard bosses have said that transferring such parts from one newbuild ferry to the other will not have a knock-on effect on the delivery of the twin funnel Glen Rosa.
According to emeritus Professor Keith Hartley, an economist and procurement expert at the University of York, he questioned, however, whether the second ferry will “ever be delivered.”
The Glen Sannox, which only weeks ago made berthing trials at Arran, six years after it was due to enter service, was due to be handed over to CalMac to serve the Arran route from Ardrossan route last month, but was delayed.
More reports The Herald Scotland on the ferry fiasco.
