Exclusive:Delayed sea trials cast doubt on hugely late Glen Rosa ferry being finished by Christmas

The yard continues to insist the vessel will be finished by the end of the year - eight-and-a-half years late - despite three industry sources with knowledge of the situation telling The Scotsman they expect that will not be met.

The first of a series of crucial tests involving the CalMac vessel running under its own steam for the first time should have taken place before a scheduled progress update to MSPs in two days’ time.

The “builder’s sea trials” were expected in the summer, then September, before being pushed back to this month, but they have still to get under way.

Separate sea trials for Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal), the Scottish Government’s ferry-owning firm which ordered the vessel, are due to follow.

Ferguson Marine chief executive Graeme Thomson told MSPs on October 2 he planned to provide a “substantive update” on progress by October 30 - this Friday - which would include the results of the trials.

In a letter to the Scottish Parliament’s transport committee, he said: “The vessel's next key milestone is the completion of builders’ sea trials, and their outcome will inform the final stages of the programme towards handover.

“We believe the committee would be best served by an update that reflects the results of those trials, rather than one issued shortly beforehand.

“We are currently planning for sea trials to take place during October, and we therefore propose to provide our next substantive update by October 30.

“In the meantime, I can confirm that we anticipate Glen Rosa will be ready for delivery in Q4 2026 [October-December].

“The vessel is at Inchgreen Marine Park [in Greenock] as we progress final outfitting and commissioning.”

Cmal chief executive Kevin Hobbs told The Scotsman in March: “We have a credible delivery plan from the shipyard and it’s only if that starts missing milestones, such as running the main engines and sea trials, we would have concerns.”

Cmal said on Tuesday that its view remained valid. The vessel’s cost has quadrupled to some £200 million.

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One source said of completion: “It won’t be this year and unlikely to be Q1 [January-March] the following year.” Another said: “We’re expecting a further delay”, while a third said: “I believe it will be delayed and I’ve never been wrong before.”

The minutes of a Ferguson Marine board meeting in July, which were published on Tuesday, reveal that the yard had considered bringing forward the sea trials from October 8 to mid-September “to get to key risk events as soon as possible by testing machinery at sea earlier, progressing LNG [liquefied natural gas] work and supporting finalisation and handover.”

Chief financial officer David Dishon told the meeting that sea trials “remained the key unknown” over its completion cost, which is currently £197.5m.

Mr Thomson told The Scotsman on Tuesday: “At this stage of the build, we’re testing and integrating the ship’s systems before she goes to sea.

“As we do that, we continuously review the order of the remaining work and adjust it where needed to keep the programme on course.”

Glen Rosa is scheduled to enter service on CalMac’s Troon-Brodick in Arran route in February following crew training, and eventually from Ardrossan once the port is upgraded to accommodate it.

Sister vessel Glen Sannox, which was completed in November 2024, had its sea trials for Cmal halted by a fire detector false alarm shutting down the engines.

An anchor also failed a test during the trials a month before it was finished.

Both ships were due to have been completed in 2018 but were delayed by a series of problems, including components being built out of sequence by a previous private sector owner.