Ferguson Marine's Port Glasgow shipyard will construct a number of tugs as a temporary measure to sustain its workforce while the Scottish government completes due diligence on promised future vessel orders. The state-owned facility has secured ministerial backing for the tug construction project, with management planning to partner with an established shipbuilder—potentially the Dutch firm Damen—using a pre-packaged design to enable rapid commencement of work.
Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn characterised the interim tug programme as a sensible approach to maintaining critical workforce capabilities during the extended evaluation period for the government's planned orders. The announcement drew sharp criticism from opposition parties, who argued it fell significantly short of the Scottish National Party's pre-election commitment to secure four new vessels for the yard.
Ferguson Marine is currently in its final stages of completing MV Glen Rosa, the second of two long-delayed CalMac ferries. According to the shipyard's latest update, the vessel entered a second dry dock in late July, with final completion and handover anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2026. The project has experienced repeated delays; parliamentary evidence from December 2025 attributed the latest postponement to corrosion in the stern tubes and deterioration of the hull coating beneath the waterline, with the total completion cost rising to £197.5 million.
The yard currently has no other confirmed orders beyond Glen Rosa. In March 2026, the Scottish Government announced plans to directly award Ferguson Marine four new vessels—two fisheries support ships and two smaller ferries for the Sound of Harris and Sound of Barra—but officials are still conducting subsidy control compliance checks. According to reporting on the direct-award framework, ministers described the plan as a "bridge to the future" for the yard. Even if those orders were confirmed immediately, the facility would face at least a year of design work before steel-cutting could commence.
The Port Glasgow yard announced recently that it would shed approximately 70 jobs through voluntary redundancy—roughly a quarter of its total workforce. This reduction reflects the extended gap between the completion of current projects and the anticipated start of new construction work.
Why the opposition parties criticised the announcement
Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr described the tug initiative as "painfully thin on detail," arguing that the four-vessel pledge made in March was "nothing more than a con made to the people of Inverclyde mere weeks before the election." He called on Flynn to intensify support efforts for the workforce at a yard owned by the Scottish Government.
Reform UK leader Malcolm Offord MSP characterised the tugs as "a thousand leagues from the expectations of Clyde shipbuilding," stating that
tugboats are no substitute for ferries and larger vessels.
Scottish Labour MSP Neil Bibby expressed frustration at the delay, saying
Months have passed since the SNP government promised to deliver contracts for the yard, but there are still waiting. He demanded that Flynn provide a cast-iron commitment to deliver the promised contracts, citing the urgency for island communities and workers.
Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP accused the government of failing to conduct appropriate legal checks before announcing the contract award, stating that
The consequences are being felt by the third of the workforce who have lost their jobs as a result of the government's negligence.
Background to the government's vessel plan
The Scottish Government's decision to directly award contracts to Ferguson Marine followed years of project difficulties at the yard. The earlier ferry programme, which produced MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa, encountered persistent technical and scheduling challenges. The government's March 2026 announcement represented an effort to establish a sustainable pipeline of work for the facility beyond the ferry programme.
In a separate development, Ferguson Marine joined the Clyde Maritime Alliance on 11 September 2026 to support growth, skills and investment on the river, signalling broader efforts to strengthen the shipbuilding sector on the Clyde.
What happens next
MV Glen Rosa remains on track for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2026, with sea trials and final handover to CalMac scheduled to follow commissioning. The Scottish Government's completion of its due-diligence process on the direct-award vessel plan represents the next critical decision point for the yard's future pipeline. The outcome of that legal review will determine whether the four promised vessels can proceed to formal contract stage and when construction might begin.
