A damage limitation exercise

‘A very good damage limitation exercise,’ is how community councillor Colin MacKenzie described the Ferguson Marine meeting this week.

Arran Community Council, which had postponed its own meeting so members could attend, discussed the outcome when it met at the Ormidale Pavilion for its monthly meeting on Tuesday.

Chairman Bill Calderwood said it was clear that relations between CMAL and the yard were ‘rather fraught’. ‘This is not good for anyone,’ he said.

However, he said the company had cleared up some of the wild rumours and had insisted the delays were not ‘technically related’.

Shiskine representative Marilyn Woods said she felt the company was determined to get across that it wasn’t its fault.

However, there was some concern that the servicing of the vessel will not be undertaken by Ferguson’s once the ship was out of ‘warranty’, given the really new technology, but carried out by CalMac.