Sinking feeling

Ministers awarded a major Calmac ferries contract to Ferguson Marine despite the “severe misgivings” of their ship owners and “significant risks” over the yard's inability to provide financial guarantees, Audit

Scotland has concluded. A bunch of incompetents. Ruining Scotland, wasting millions which could have been spent wisely. And it goes on, and on, and on. Disgraceful.

Monika Whitelaw They are totally incompetent and it doesn’t say much for the hard of thinking that vote for them!

Mark Taylor Significant under-investment in an industry Scotland led the world in. Expertise, undervalued, underpaid and not incentivised to continue apprenticeships, what do you expect? Thirty years past, 16 year olds then, currently would be skilled 46 year olds today, conducting quality skills training and ensuring continuation and employment. Idiotic mismanagement with Directors wasting other people’s hard-earned cash (public money). Knowing that these ferries have a given lifespan, a programme of

replacement could easily have been put in place and adhered to, 30 years ago. It wasn't and here’s the end result. Complete mismanagement and lack of foresight.

Paul Roach An unmitigated disaster. The yard’s management and Scottish Government are equally to blame. Scottish shipbuilding is a shadow of its former self and we'd be fools to keep throwing public money at it.

Alan Inverarity

They were trying to keep a viable yard open and save jobs. Comments suggest readers don’t care about things like that, only the bottom line. I suspect readers would be equally critical if the Scottish Government had given the contracts to a foreign shipyard.

Yvonne Mackay

Sorry, you can’t defend this they obviously didn’t do the basics in due diligence.

Colin Lowe