A TRADE union has warned only new work can secure a future for Ferguson Marine – after the Scottish Government opted not to directly award the yard a contract to construct seven new vessels.

GMB Scotland welcomed a Scottish Government announcement on Tuesday which confirmed up to £14.2m was set to be funnelled into Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow over the next to years, but issued a stark statement about the future of the yard. 

Transport secretary Fiona Hyslop also confirmed that CMAL, the body which oversees the award of public contracts for the state-owned ferry service, will take bids to build seven new electric boats.

READ MORE: £14.2m to be invested in Ferguson Marine as direct award ruled out

The decision not to award the work directly to Ferguson Marine has been met with disappointment by local politicians, including Alba Party General Secretary Chris McEleny, who warned that the yard would face closure without more orders in the pipeline.

Commenting on the decision Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, said: “There can be no shipyard without ships.

“The workforce at Ferguson Marine is committed, skilled and entirely blameless for the errors made in recent years.

“Those skills will be crucial if the yard is to have a secure future and if Scotland is to have a successful industrial strategy.

“This yard is capable of becoming a cornerstone of that strategy and helping protect Scotland’s shipbuilding heritage for new generations of workers and apprentices.

“Their jobs must be secured while the yard becomes commercially competitive to ensure their skills are available when ships are again built there.

“This is an opportunity that must not be squandered, and every pound of investment must be spent to ensure the yard is swiftly in a position to win future contracts and create skilled, well-paid jobs in Inverclyde for decades to come.”

Alba Party General Secretary Chris McEleny claimed the Scottish Government's decision had put shipbuilding in the area 'on the verge of extinction'. 

He said: “This is nothing short of a betrayal of the people of Inverclyde and the workforce at Ferguson’s in Port Glasgow.

“I have been campaigning for the Scottish Government to directly award this work to Ferguson’s, warning them that if they did not then there would be no steel left to cut at the yard, no work left and no orders in the pipeline.

“This means one thing and one thing only - the closure of the yard.

“The Scottish Government should be under no doubt, their decision today not to directly award this work to Ferguson’s has put shipbuilding on the lower Clyde on the verge of extinction.

“And I am ashamed to say that this hasn’t been done by a Labour or a Tory Government but by an SNP Government that has sadly lost its way.”