The costs of two CalMac ferries being built at the Ferguson shipyard have risen again after regulators ordered safety changes.

Completing Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa will now cost at least an extra £24m, the yard’s boss has told MSPs.

The delivery date for the second ship has been pushed back by five months, to May 2025.

The passenger capacity of the ships may also be reduced from 1,000 to 852 to satisfy emergency evacuation rules.

The two ships, which were meant to cost £97m, are now 3.5 times over budget and will be delivered six years late.

Ferguson chief executive David Tydeman told Holyrood’s net zero committees the yard was continuing to face “design gaps, associated re-work, and surprises”.

He believes this is due to errors made in the past, both before and after the Port Glasgow shipyard was nationalised in 2019.

The latest cost increase is largely driven by changes required by the safety regulator the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

The ships will not be allowed to carry passengers unless improvements are made to emergency evacuation routes.

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