CFO and Accountable Officer, David Dishon, said: "Naturally we are disappointed that we were not selected as the preferred bidder for the Small Vessel Replacement Programme.

“Ferguson Marine is perfectly positioned for this type of work. Six of CalMac’s major vessels started life at our yard in Port Glasgow, including three ferries incorporating a low-carbon hybrid system of traditional diesel power and electric lithium-ion battery power – the first of their kind in the world at the time.

“We are very proud of our bid and although we priced it competitively, we were up against extremely tough competition from competing yards outside the UK which benefit from significantly reduced operating costs and advanced capital investment programmes.  The weighting for price will therefore place all UK yards at a disadvantage.  However we were pleased to see Ferguson Marine's bid rated so highly on quality.

Reaching the final round of bidding demonstrates the strength of our proposal and gives us renewed confidence in our ability to produce Clyde-built ships that are world class.

“We remain optimistic about the future of the yard and ongoing discussions with commercial partners continue to progress with promise. We have also begun to plan the first phase of the £14.2 million in capital investment from the Scottish Government, which will support us in making vital updates to the yard, its equipment and infrastructure.

“We’d like to thank CMAL for the opportunity to bid for phase one of this contract, and look forward to finding out more about phase two in due course.”