Taxpayers foot £600k Net Zero bill after ferry staff need training to pump 'climate-friendly fuel': 'Floating monument to SNP waste and incompetence!'

Ferry bosses have paid £600,000 of taxpayers’ money to consultants to pump climate-friendly fuel into shops due to untrained staff in what has been described as a “floating monument to SNP waste and incompetence”.

Ferguson Marine, a state-owned shipbuilding company, pays experts to install and fill the liquefied natural gas (LNG) tank of MV Glen Rosa.

However, the vessel’s launch is eight years behind schedule, with a ballooning budget which is four times over.

Part of the reason for the over-spend is due to the Ferguson Marine shipyard to bring in consultants to pump the vessel with natural gas in a Net Zero drive imposed by the SNP.

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Also in the fleet is the MV Glen Sannox, which is currently running on diesel because its LNG system is having issues.

Ferguson Marine awarded a £600,000 contract to English engineering consultancy Waves Group for “advice for Glen Rosa’s LNG Fuel system during the commissioning phase”.

Critics have slammed the move, with Reform UK’s Energy spokesman Duncan Massey calling it a “vanity project” for the SNP, where “ideology replaces common sense”.

The MSP for North East Scotland told GB News: “£600,000 on consultants to make a delayed ferry fit the SNP’s Net Zero agenda is an insult to taxpayers.

“Years late, hundreds of millions over budget and now Scots are being asked to pay even more because the expertise wasn’t there in the first place.

“This is what happens when ideology replaces common sense. It is farcical.

“Communities needed reliable ferries and instead they got a costly SNP vanity project and another bill for the taxpayer.

“Reform UK Scotland would put value for money, accountability and reliable public services ahead of Net Zero dogma.”

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Both vessels were contracted in 2015 and were originally expected to enter service in 2018, to sail the Troon and Brodick route, servicing the Isle of Arran.

The ships were designed with complex hybrid engines where they can operate on either marine gas oil or LNG, in a bid to reduce sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions.

However, the eco-friendly engines have added an additional complexity for shipbuilders to overcome, which has led the state-owned company to outsource the green fuel expertise.

The £600,000 adds to a mounting bill of the ships’s production, which has become one of Scotland’s most expensive public procurement projects.

Costs have multiplied to £500million from an original estimated spend of £97million.

Callum McGoldrick, investigations campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance said the situation is “a floating monument to SNP waste and incompetence”.

Speaking to the People’s Channel, he said: “This ferry fiasco is a floating monument to SNP waste and incompetence.

“After costs exploded from £97million to around £500million, taxpayers are now being charged another £600,000 because the shipyard lacks the expertise to operate the very system it commissioned.

“Ministers must end this blank-cheque approach, publish the full costs and hold those responsible for this scandal to account.”

Glen Rosa remains in Port Glasgow’s dry dock while the Glen Sannox only made her maiden journey in January 2025, but has been docked several times requiring repairs.

Ferguson Marine executive technical director Andrew Milligan told the Daily Mail: “Building vessels fuelled by LNG is a highly complex, expensive and regulated practice.

“LNG is a cryogenic, flammable gas and maritime authorities strictly control and closely manage its use to ensure safe handling.

“Shipbuilders do not typically have internal staff trained on testing, supplying or filling LNG systems as it is more efficient and cost-effective to outsource its supervision to a specialised, accredited team.

“We know we need to get this process right to ensure Glen Rosa is handed over as quickly and efficiently as possible and utilising an external specialist is the best way for us to achieve that.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said since the nationalisation of Ferguson Marine, steps had been taken to secure the long-term future of the yard and its skilled workforce, including providing clearer work pipelines, improved delivery confidence and a modernised facility.

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