大象传媒

Former shipyard owner Jim McColl said he was surprised when First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that Ferguson of Port Glasgow had won a contract to build two new ferries.

The businessman made his comment during evidence to Holyrood's rural economy committee which is looking at why construction of the liquefied natural gas fuelled vessels are running three years late and are 拢100m over budget.

Mr McColl told MSPs: "Before we had confirmation we would accept it formally the first minister had announced that we had won the contract."

He added that there were "open ends" that needed to be resolved and that "specifications" of the contract should have been agreed before a formal announcement