The Scottish ferry, the Glen Sannox, has completed its first passenger journey, 2,610 days after it was infamously launched with fake parts and painted on windows by then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Unlike the staged fanfare of that 2017 event, no children were bussed in to wave Saltire flags at Troon harbour this morning, nor speeches given by any government official. This was a quiet affair, in line with current First Minister John Swinney’s strategy of distancing himself from the failings of the Sturgeon era.
In 2017, Nicola Sturgeon said the new boat would contribute to ‘Scotland’s world-leading climate change goals’. It seems it might instead negatively impact those climate ambitions
Islanders will no doubt be pleased the ship is finally up and running, but controversy surrounding the Glen Sannox, its sister vessel the Glen Rosa, and the publicly-owned Ferguson shipyard in Glasgow, looks set to continue. Last month it emerged that the carbon footprint of the Glen Sannox, touted as a ‘green’ ferry, will be far larger than the decades-old diesel ship that has served the route between the mainland and the Isle of Arran.
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