Ferguson Marine announces further delay to hugely-late ferry after new snag during crucial testing

The announcement to MSPs on Thursday came hours after The Scotsman exclusively revealed critical trials of Glen Sannox’s novel fuel system had been postponed by a snag.

It also came just 90 minutes after the yard told this newspaper it was assessing what impact the delay to the trials might have on the ferry handover. 

The latest delay to the ferry is the fourth since yard chief executive David Tydeman was sacked in March over alleged “performance concerns”, and now stretch to more than three months.

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) system tests should have started on Wednesday, but were put back because it is taking longer than expected to cool the pipes enough to load the fuel, the Port Glasgow yard said.

Yard interim chief executive John Petticrew told MSPs in a letter: “The past week has seen us dealing with several technical challenges relating to the cooling of the LNG system, which has delayed the loading, final commissioning of the system and the harbour and sea trials.

“Regrettably, this means that some of the work required after these trials will not be completed in time for the proposed handover at the end of September.

“In discussion with partners, we have agreed that the handover of the vessel will be delayed by approximately two weeks to allow the completion of work scheduled for after sea trials.

“I am personally very disappointed to be delivering this news, but I can assure that the team at the yard are doing everything possible to keep as closely as possible to the proposed schedule.”

The yard had earlier told The Scotsman the cooling process, which started on Monday, should be complete by Friday and the testing rescheduled.

Separate sea trials to push the CalMac ferry to its limits - seen as the “acid test” by Scottish Government vessel owning firm Cmal - have already been postponed until next week.

It is understood the LNG, which will be used along with traditional diesel, will be stored in a Thermos-like tank as a supercooled liquid at around -170C, with -50C air vented from the top of one of the ferry’s masts as it is loaded.

Problems with completing the LNG system have been blamed for much of the most recent delays to the ferry, which is due to enter service on the main Arran route to Brodick in December following post-delivery CalMac trials.

These are understood to have focused on the system that warms up the LNG and pipes it under pressure from the storage tank to the main engines and generators. Glen Sannox will be one of the west coast operator’s largest vessels, with space for more than 850 passengers and 127 cars on the firm’s busiest service.

A Ferguson Marine spokesperson told The Scotsman: “LNG harbour trials were due to begin on Wednesday with the loading of LNG at quayside. However, it is taking longer than initially advised to cool the pipes to the required temperature to load the LNG.

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“The additional cooling time needed means the trials will be re-scheduled. Once the required temperature has been reached, the schedule will be redefined, with new dates likely to be agreed before the end of this week.

“The guidance we were given by the supplier was that the temperature should drop by 10C every hour, but we haven’t been able to achieve that rate and it is taking longer.

“The entire cooling process was expected to take a day and a half and our schedule included two days for the cooling process to take place. The delivery of the nitrogen was late, which meant a delay to the start of the cooling process, an issue outside our control.”

Mr Tydeman, who was the yard’s chief executive until March, said: “It’s disappointing to see further delays to the completion of Glen Sannox. The plan for ‘cooling down’ the pipework and the storage tank was mapped out early this year prior to my departure.

“It’s a complicated process, mainly structured around purging the loading and on-board pipelines for the low temperature liquid side of the LNG system. The principal issue is about making sure there is no moisture in the pipework, and to do this the system must be purged with nitrogen gas before LNG is pumped aboard.

“If not clear of moisture, the very low temperature LNG turns the moisture into ice, which the LNG liquid then pushes ahead of it into the ship and into the valves and storage tank, causing damage.

“The time needed to do this was highlighted by the team to me 12 months ago.”

Scottish Conservatives transport spokesperson Graham Simpson said: “This latest delay to Glen Sannox is yet another blow for island communities betrayed by the SNP.

“The LNG system has been at the root of many of the issues with the ferry. As former Ferguson chief executive David Tydeman said, these have been known about for some time. It adds insult to injury that no SNP minister has yet been sacked over this appalling scandal, which they have presided over for years.”

Scottish Labour transport spokesperson Alex Rowley said: “This latest delay is simply another example of the SNP mismanagement that has plagued the delivery of these two lifeline ferries - the Government simply cannot be trusted to handle procurement of this scale.

“At this point, the only thing that the SNP Government should be delivering is an apology for their mishandling of this whole sorry affair."

Ferguson Marine said the sea trials, which are due to follow the LNG tests, “are designed to put the vessel through its paces out at sea”.

Its spokesperson said: “Anchors will be tested, as well as propulsion and manoeuvring tests.  Similar to the trials that took place in February, the vessel will gather pace, slow down and stop many times.

“Endurance tests will be conducted, where Glen Sannox will operate at higher speeds for longer periods of time.”

CalMac said its “delivery to operations” (DTO) trials of the vessel after it was delivered by Ferguson Marine were now expected to last six-and-a-half weeks.

These will include berthing trials at Brodick and Troon, which Glen Sannox will use because the scale of upgrading work to accommodate the ferry at the route’s main port of Ardrossan has still to be agreed.

CalMac said the trials would also assess when best to use diesel and LNG. Mr Tydeman said last year that diesel power was expected to be used for manoeuvring in ports and LNG en-route.

A CalMac spokesperson said: “Following delivery of the vessel, as CalMac crew operate the vessel and become more familiar with how she operates, they will identify the best way to manage manoeuvring in port.

“During the DTO period, we plan to undertake berthing trials in Troon, Brodick, Skye triangle, Stornoway and Ullapool.” This is in case the ferry needs to be redeployed there to cover for other vessels being out of action. 

The spokesperson added: “Crew will undertake various training activities, maintenance tasks, procedures, drills and vessel familiarisation prior to the vessel entering service.”