Ministers have been accused of “conning” the public after the Ferguson Marine yard was handed short term work for a number of small tugs rather than the four large vessels promised during the election campaign.
Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn announced at 5pm that the tugs would maintain vital workforce skills while officials continue the due diligence process on the two fisheries ships and two small CalMac ferries announced in March by former deputy first minister Kate Forbes.
It is understood officials are still checking whether the order complies with subsidy control laws, though even if they were approved now there would be no steel cut in the yard because of the need for design preparation work.
Ferguson Marine is currently in the final stages of completing MV Glen Rosa, the second of two long-delayed Calmac ferries, but recently announced it would shed about 70 jobs, about a quarter of its total workforce.
Mr Flynn was accused of providing “painfully thin” detail by Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr who said the announcement proved the four new vessels promised in March was “nothing more than a con made to the people of Inverclyde mere weeks before the election”.
Reform UK Scotland leader Malcolm Offord criticised what he described as an attempt to “bury the story” at 5pm.
“Kate Forbes hailed the award of four vessels to the yard a “watershed moment” but six months later, Ferguson’s profitability is being strangled by red tape,” he said. “How has the Scottish Government allowed a clear pipeline of work to turn into a calendar year void of opportunities?
“Stephen Flynn knows perfectly well that tugboats are no substitute for ferries and larger vessels.”
Scottish Labour spokesman Neil Bibby said: “Months have passed since the SNP government promised to deliver contracts for the yard, but (it is) still waiting.
“Stephen Flynn must accept the urgency of the situation for islanders and workers and give a cast-iron commitment that he will deliver the promised contracts.”
Scottish LibDem transport spokesperson Willie Rennie accused the government of failing to “carry out appropriate legal checks” before announcing the awarding of a contract to the yard.
“The consequences are being felt by the third of the workforce who have lost their jobs as a result of the government’s negligence,” he said.
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