A scandal-plagued shipyard owned by the Scottish Government has announced yet more delays to the completion of two CalMac ferries ordered back in 2015.
Ferguson Marine announced that an as yet unnamed vessel would now not be finished until the first quarter of 2024.
The other ferry, the Glenn Sannox, is due to be handed over by May 2023 - but that timetable could now slip by one or two months.
The decision to award the contract to build the ferries to Fergusons has become a major political scandal for SNP ministers due to cost overruns and huge delays.
The Port Glasgow shipyard went bust in 2019 and had to be nationalised as a result.
It comes as Nicola Sturgeon said today she has not seen any evidence of criminality in the procurement and construction of two late and over-budget ferries - but she insisted coming to that conclusion was "not my job".
New allegations surfaced this week that the yard had sight of a more than 400-page report setting out the technical requirements for the vessels before it was awarded the contract.
According to the BBC, it was given to the yard by a design consultant, something that its former owner, Jim McColl, said would have put them in a “very strong position” to win the contract over the five other bidders.
Large parts of the document had been copied verbatim into the Ferguson Marine bid, the report stated.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) rejected claims there had been "preferential treatment" offered to Ferguson Marine given the body’s board voiced its strong opposition to the yard being awarded the contract over the lack of a builder’s refund guarantee.
The auditor general, Stephen Boyle, announced on Wednesday he would look into the procurement process, with the full support of Scotland’s top civil servant, John Paul Marks.
But Scottish Tory transport spokesman, Graham Simpson, tabling an urgent question in Holyrood on Wednesday, questioned if it was time to call in the police.
Public Audit Committee convener Richard Leonard, questioning the First Minister at the Conveners’ Group in the Scottish Parliament, asked if she believed there was criminality in the process.
"I’ve got many responsibilities as First Minister – I take each and every one of them very seriously – but I don’t think anybody would say that I should be the arbiter on this or any issue whether there has been criminality,” she said.
"I’ve certainly seen no evidence of that, but it is not my job.
"We have independent authorities that are there to determine these issues on whatever topic it is that we’re speaking about."
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
