Swinney deems cost of much-delayed ferry the Glen Rosa ‘unacceptable’

The cost of the construction of the Glen Rosa is “unacceptable”, John Swinney has said.

The ferry is being built by the Government-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, and was ordered as one of two hoped to serve the route between the mainland and the Isle of Arran.

But a series of cost increases and delays has turned the construction into one of the longest-running political scandals in Holyrood history, even after the first ship, the Glen Sannox, entered service.

Last week, it was announced that the price of the Glen Rosa has risen again following a further delay to its delivery – which has been pushed back to the fourth quarter of this year – with the cost increasing to £197.5 million.

At the time it was signed, the contract for both ferries was worth £97 million.

Speaking to the Press Association on Thursday, the First Minister said: “The Government is monitoring very closely and very carefully the costs involved in the Glen Rosa.

“It’s unacceptable that it’s cost as much money as it has cost.

“These issues are all being examined and explored by parliamentary committees and by the Government, and I assure members of the public that the Government is monitoring assiduously all of the costs involved in the Glen Rosa to make sure the public purse is protected.”

The announcement of the cost increase came in an update to Holyrood from Ferguson Marine chief executive Graeme Thomson last week.

He said the hike is “regrettable” but that he is “confident in the updated timeline and cost forecast”.