FERRY fury has erupted again in Inverclyde amid allegations a Scottish Government quango failed to adhere to a legal requirement after awarding a £105 million contract to a shipyard in Turkey.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) has been accused of acting unlawfully by not declaring what the benefits to communities here would be to giving the work to a foreign contractor.

The Alba party says it had been given a guarantee that all bidders to build two Islay ferries — a procurement process from which government-owned Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow was excluded — had to 'detail the community benefits they were able to offer'.

However, in a public announcement by CMAL of its preferred bidder last Friday no benefits to any Scottish community have been listed.

Alba's Chris McEleny hit out: "That publicly-owned Ferguson's was previously excluded from bidding to build ferries that will be owned by the Scottish Government and operated on behalf of the Scottish Government was outrageous.

"To now announce they will be built in Turkey without listing what the benefits will be to our local communities is a complete betrayal of the people that live and work here.

"It is a legal requirement to set out what the community benefits are, so to award this contract without any community benefits would be unlawful."

Mr McEleny suggested that the benefits are not itemised because it would be 'embarrassing' for culture, Europe and international development minister Jenny Gilruth 'to pretend that ships built in Turkey will provide economic, employment or training opportunities to people in Inverclyde'.

He added: "I will be asking the government to urgently confirm the details of this award and to again remind them that if they don't start directly awarding contracts to Scottish yards instead of sending work abroad then they will be effectively shutting down shipbuilding on the Clyde no differently than from how Thatcher's Tories did in the 1980s."

Alba depute leader Kenny McAskill MP said: "We already knew that a kick in the teeth was coming after Ferguson's in Port Glasgow was excluded from even bidding for this lucrative contracts.

"Over £100m of procurement investment in Inverclyde would have supported hundreds of jobs and provided the foundation to start rebuilding a bright, long term future for the yard.

"Instead Scottish public funds will be propping up jobs in Turkey."

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: "CMAL is bound by the requirement to openly tender for these works and undertook the procurement in line with all legal requirements, attracting 11 bids from shipyards around the world.

"Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow and another UK yard did submit bids, but did not meet the initial criteria to be considered at the second stage.

"While it is disappointing that Ferguson Marine was unsuccessful on this occasion, we are fully committed to supporting the yard to secure a suitable future, including a pipeline of future work, to help protect jobs and commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde.

"The Scottish Government stands firm on its commitment to the vessels, the workforce and the yard at Ferguson.

"It is no secret that the need for additional tonnage for the CMAL fleet is extremely pressing and it is important that we now focus on bringing these two new vessels into service as quickly as possible."

A CMAL spokesperson said: "We adhere to the Scottish Government's procurement process, and it was applied to this contract the same way it is applied to all of our contracts.

"There was a rigorous selection process and FMPG was not chosen to be taken to the tender stage.

"We are currently in a 10 day standstill period with the preferred bidder selected, but haven't yet awarded the contract.

"No part of the procurement process has been unlawful."

Greenock-born Conservative MSP Jamie Greene said: "The failure of Scottish Government-owned CMAL to award this contract to our very own Clyde shipbuilders is nothing short of a huge insult to Inverclyde and the workers at Ferguson Marine.

"This contact could have sustained hundreds of local jobs and boosted our economy, but instead the SNP government have put Turkish shipbuilders first."