GLEN SANNOX

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Ferry will be taken out of service straight after starting operations

The 'Glen Sannox' will be taken out of service almost straight away from the start of operations in December for a mandatory overhaul. The two-week refit is required to permit the ferry to operate for a year, and delaying it into 2025 was seen as being more disruptive. The work includes inspection of the underwater section of the hull, which is required by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The announcement came after it was revealed that sea trials for the vessel had been delayed by two weeks - though the Ferguson Marine shipyard insisted the planned completion date at the end of this month remained unchanged. Due to the deterioration of the harbour of Ardrossan, the 'Glen Sannox' is expected to sail from Troon to Brodick when it finally begins service. The Scottish Government-owned Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), which owns CalMac’s ferries, has postponed its own sea trials to test the 'Glen Sannox' to Sep 16-20, involving a 12-hour endurance trial which would run it exceptionally hard. The date had been changed for logistical and operational reasons, and the ferry was still due to be completed on Sep 30.

Another setback for delivey

The delivery of the long-delayed 'Glen Sannox' for the route between the Isle of Arran and the Scottish mainland has been pushed back again. A new official date of Sep 30 has been set for the handover of the Glen Sannox, despite last month saying it hoped to deliver the vessel in the week beginning Aug 19. The vessel, under construction at Greenock’s Ferguson Marine shipyard, is beset with more build issues, as engineers wrestled with problems around installing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel system, something it has been dealing with since last year. Ferguson Marine's interim chief executive John Petticrew wrote to the Scottish Parliament's Transport Committee on Aug 2 to provide one of his regular updates: "We have, regrettably, identified an additional number of areas which require to be completed on the vessel before we can proceed to acceptance trials. The majority of these works will have to take place in relatively small engine spaces, which are already delayed by the prolonged installation of the LNG system, due to the complexity of installation and need to examine the integrity of the pipework." This would lead to increased workforce congestion on parts of the vessel, meaning a re-evaluation of health and safety standards is needed. Current cost estimates for Glen Sannox are between £145.5 million and £149.1 million and it is hoped the cost for Glen Rosa will be kept below £150 million.

Senior director removed, more delays ahead

The programme director Andy Crossan, who was seconded from the Scottish Government ferries agency CMAL, in charge of the construction of the 'Glen Sannox' has been removed, and a further delay to the delivery of the ferry was expected. The ship was now due for delivery by July 31 six years late. CMAL has blamed a catastrophic contractor failure, but the former yard owner Jim McColl, who rescued it from administration in 2014, claimed a flawed specification and subsequent interference by CMAL were the problem. Crossan had joined CMAL as projects director and technical manager in 2015, just a few weeks before the contract was awarded to the Port Glasgow yard. As the construction ran into trouble, relations with McColl's management team became so fraught that he was temporarily banned from the shipyard. In March 2022 he was seconded into the senior leadership team of the now-nationalised shipyard by the new boss David Tydeman in a bid to improve the working relationship with CMAL. Crossan was well-known to many of the workers, having been a manager there from 1990-2007 when the firm was known as Ferguson Shipbuilders. Final works on the ferry are being carried out a short distance from the Port Glasgow yard, at the Inchgreen quayside in Greenock. Initial sea trials using traditional marine diesel have gone well, but the dual-fuel ship's LNG systems have yet to be commissioned. The ship will require several weeks of sea trials by CalMac after its delivery before it can start operations. An update on the ship's delivery was expected at the end of June.