A broken propeller found on one of the two over-budget and much delayed Calmac ferries sums up perfectly the whole sorry saga, argues Herald columnist Alan Simpson.

To say it took quite a long time to build would be an understatement but when it eventually entered service last year, the sighs of relief from Arran could be heard all the way to Port Glasgow.

After taking seven years more than the due delivery date at four times the original cost, the least we could expect was a ferry that was in tip-top condition.

But this being Scotland’s beleaguered ferry network, it appears this was sadly too much to ask.

Last week, it was revealed that the MV Glen Sannox needs needs new propellers as part of multi-million-pound repairs after just over a year in service.

Shipyard bosses told a Holyrood committee that repair costs for the ferry could hit £3.2 million after a small crack was discovered in the hull.

Ferguson Marine chief executive Graeme Thomson said that extra steel had been added to strengthen the CalMac vessel, but only new propellers would tackle “the root cause” of the crack.

He told Holyrood’s net zero, energy and transport committee: “There is an opportunity to improve the design of the propellers.”

This despite the Glen Sannox beginning service on the Isle of Arran route in January 2025, seven years late and four times over budget.

You would think that somebody would have checked the propellers on an almost daily basis given how long it was in the Ferguson Marine yard for.

But this latest piece of slapstick should surprise absolutely no-one given the absolute shambles that has befallen replacing the CalMac fleet of late.

The 336 feet (102m) vessel, with space for 127 cars and 852 passengers, was the first major new ferry to join the fleet off the west of Scotland in a decade.

Glen Sannox was briefly taken out of service last year for the crack on a weld seam to be........

© Herald Scotland