SEA trials of the Port Glasgow-built MV Glen Sannox will remain suspended until early next week despite hopes they could resume today, the Tele can reveal. 

The vessel had been undergoing a final round of tests ahead of its planned handover from builders Ferguson Marine to the Scottish Government's ferries procurement agency CMAL in mid-October. 

But a 'blackout' on board the ship on Wednesday resulted in the ship's main propulsion system shutting down and forced Ferguson Marine to halt the trials.

MV Glen Sannox had hit multiple milestones earlier this weekMV Glen Sannox had hit multiple milestones earlier this week (Image: Alistair Forsyth)

The shipyard's interim boss John Petticrew revealed on Thursday that the blackout was due to the accidental tripping of a fire detector on board Glen Sannox and said the yard's aim was to resume the trials today (Friday). 

Despite the yard's goal of restarting the tests, the Glen Sannox did not leave Inchgreen Dry Dock in Greenock this morning to take part in trials. 

A Ferguson Marine spokesperson has now confirmed that the test will not recommence until early next week. 

They said: "Trials will not resume today. We are continuing to test the systems, including the alarms, to ensure everything is in order. We’re aiming to resume trials early next week."

In a letter to the Scottish Parliament's Net Zero Energy and Transport (NZET) committee on Thursday, Mr Petticrew that the power cut was one of a number of issues that the yard were currently tackling.

The update revealed one of the ship's anchors had failed acceptance tests on Monday and that Ferguson Marine were in discussions with subcontractors to try and resolve the issue.

The shipyard is set to provide an update to Parliament next week outlining what impact, if any, the disruption of the sea trials has had on their ability to meet the ferry's currently scheduled handover date.