It was great to hear this week of the Scottish Government's proposed award of major work to the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, writes Business Editor Ian McConnell.

Uplifting news is somewhat thin on the ground these days so it was great to hear this week of the proposed award of work to Ferguson Marine which would take up most of the Port Glasgow yard’s capacity for the next five years.

The shipbuilder has not had its challenges to seek, for sure, with a further delay to the delivery of the Glen Rosa ferry for the Brodick route in recent months having provided those who would make mischief over the yard’s difficulties, often for political reasons, with further fuel.

There had been much speculation that significant new work could be coming the way of Ferguson Marine, in which the SNP Government is investing. The shipbuilder, which employs hundreds of people, has been owned by the Scottish Government since 2019.

And there was good reason to hope, in spite of major cost and time overruns at Ferguson Marine on the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa ferries for Caledonian MacBrayne, that the Scottish Government might award work to help secure the yard’s future. And to preserve vital employment in an area not without its economic troubles.

When I interviewed her in June last year, Scottish Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes highlighted the importance of restoring confidence in the Ferguson Marine shipyard for it to “succeed and survive”.

The previous month, Ferguson Marine had revealed that delivery of the Glen Rosa for CalMac’s Arran route would be delayed further, at that stage until the second quarter of this year.

Completion of this vessel is now expected in the fourth quarter of this year, with this latest delay announced in December.

Ms Forbes in June last year made plain the Scottish Government’s desire to see Ferguson Marine prosper.

And, declaring she had “full confidence in the ability of the yard to submit quality tenders” for future work, she........

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