I think it would be absolute lunacy to move the ships at this stage

Government officials held discussions over moving Scotland’s two new Calmac ferries to a new shipyard to be completed.

The Sunday Post can reveal talks were held between Transpor t Scotland and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd ( CMAL) on the time and cost implications of such a move as part of “risk mitigation”.

The Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, the last commercial shipyard on the Clyde, won the £ 97 million contract to build the ferries in 2015.

The ferries will be the first in the world to run on a dual- fuel system using both diesel and liquefied natural gas.

But a dispute has broken out, with the yard’s owner billionaire Jim Mccoll threate n i n g to take CMAL to court to pay for additional work which he said was caused by design changes made to the ferries.

CMAL, which is owned by the Scottish Government and is responsible for buying and leasing ferries for operators Calmac, has insisted the work is covered by the original contract.

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