THE MV Glen Rosa’s launch has been a much anticipated - and rightfully celebrated - moment for the shipyard, made possible by the hard work and dedication of Ferguson’s talented team of shipbuilders.

This should be considered a massive achievement, considering the often complex technical issues and disagreements between stakeholders which clearly exacerbated MV Glen Rosa’s and MV Glen Sannox’s late and overpriced delivery.

Notwithstanding this excellent milestone being finally reached, I join many others in concern as to what the future of Ferguson Marine will look like once both vessels have left the shipyard’s dock.

Since late last year, the Scottish Government has failed to publicly commit any substantial investment into Ferguson Marine.

The £25 million that has been requested by the shipyard’s board in order to boost their ability to attract future work contracts to the dock has been completely ignored thus far.

A business case they say is needed and we hear that more, presumably expensive, consultants are helping them draft one up.

This investment is needed to streamline the production process. The abject failure thus far to award the vital Small Vessel Replacement Programme contract to the yard – despite cross-party calls to do so - will no doubt have shaken the confidence of the talented workforce on the Clyde and indeed future investors around it ever returning into private hands.

If the government owns the yard, surely it’s possible to find legal means to give the yard future work?

This will not have been helped by the odd circumstances surrounding the recent sacking of David Tydeman, the now former boss of the yard up until a few weeks ago. The Scottish Government has refused to provide a good explanation for this, especially since Tydeman appeared to be well-respected by his industry peers and many Ferguson staff.

My colleagues and I intend to get a straight answer out of the Scottish Government as to these circumstances. Not helped by the fact that Robbie Drummond from CalMac also seems to have hastily departed from his role too.

I’ll repeat what I have said many times before; the fantastic workers at Ferguson Marine deserve a strong supply line of contracts to truly show why the Clyde is the best place for shipbuilding in the UK, if not the world. But without the Scottish Government’s commitment to further modernisation and investment, the questions is: how can this potential can be realised?