Major contracts awarded for delayed CalMac ferries

Further contracts are to be awarded to help complete the two new ferries

Contracts worth more than £15m have been awarded as part of work to complete the construction of two delayed and over budget ferries.

Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Limited is building the boats at a yard on the Clyde for Caledonian MacBrayne's (CalMac) Arran and Hebrides services.

The ferries could be three years late in being finished and the project is the subject of a Holyrood inquiry.

Contracts have been placed with three Scottish companies.

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Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Limited said the work would support more than 200 jobs, with further contracts worth a total of more than £10m to be awarded in the next few weeks.

Wartsila Ships Electronics Services, Blu Marine and Babcock, Dales Marine and McEvoy Engineering have been given the contracts for carrying out electrical supply work, outfitting passenger areas and constructing pipework.

The final bill for the ferries is expected to be close to double the original budget.

In 2015, the £97m order was considered a lifeline for the Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow - the last commercial yard on the Clyde - which had been bought out of administration by industrialist Jim McColl the previous year.

But the contract resulted in the yard re-entering administration. The yard has since been nationalised and the final cost of building the two new ferries for Arran and the Hebrides is expected to be close to £200m.