THE future of Ardrossan harbour remains shrouded in doubt after Scotland's transport minister admitted that a crucial announcement on the facility has been delayed yet again.

The revelation comes in a response from Fiona Hyslop to a written question by the town's MSP, Kenneth Gibson.

Vital upgrade work at the harbour to allow the terminal to accommodate Caledonian MacBrayne's two new Arran ferries was promised by Humza Yousaf, when he was Scotland's transport minister, in 2018.

But the project was called in for a review by Transport Scotland last summer amid mounting concern at the rising cost of the scheme.

An announcement on the upgrade work had been expected during the Scottish Parliament's summer recess.

But Ms Hyslop has now revealed there is still no agreement between the project's three funding partners - Peel Ports, which owns the facility, North Ayrshire Council, and Transport Scotland - over who should pay for what aspect of the upgrade work.

Responding to the latest development, Mr Gibson said: “This situation cannot continue to drag on and the Cabinet Secretary for Transport must urgently press for a solution.”

Without agreement on the harbour redevelopment, the future of the Ardrossan to Brodick ferry service remains very much in doubt.

Until, or unless, the harbour is upgraded, the two new ferries for the main route to Arran, MVs Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, will have to use Troon as their mainland port, instead of Ardrossan.

In his written question, Mr Gibson asked the Scottish Government "whether it will provide the information requested regarding by what date, at the latest, it expects that the business case review into the redevelopment of Ardrossan harbour will be concluded".

Ms Hyslop replied: "I understand and share the member's frustrations on the Ardrossan Harbour redevelopment, as do my officials working on the project. 

"The business case work and overall delivery of the project needs to be supported by the financial packages from each of the main funding partners.

"It is imperative therefore that these and the legal agreements are clearly defined, affordable and ensure value to the public purse.

"During recent discussions with funding partners, there have been some emerging issues in relation to the funding packages and costs to Government that require further investigation and to be concluded before the business case can be finalised. 

"Officials are progressing these matters as quickly as possible, and will look to provide respective updates when notable progress is made."

Mr Gibson responded: “This apparent impasse continues to be deeply frustrating, especially when at the May 16 Ardrossan Harbour Taskforce meeting, it seemed that a resolution which would enable a tender to go out for work to subsequently begin on site early next year seemed within our grasp.

READ MORE: Why are we waiting? Six years on and STILL no news of harbour upgrade green light

“However, I understand that agreement over the share of costs between the three partners rumbled on. It appears that every meeting to resolve it leads only to another meeting.

“All parties - Peel Ports, Transport Scotland and North Ayrshire Council - need to sit down together and thrash this out until an agreement is reached. 

“Troon is a poor substitute, even temporarily, for Ardrossan.

"This situation cannot continue to drag on and the Cabinet Secretary for Transport must urgently press for a solution.”

The harbour redevelopment was approved by Mr Yousaf in April 2018.

Last year, the Scottish Government, led at the time by Mr Yousaf, called in the plan for a re-examination of the costings.

Almost 10 months on, we're still waiting for the results of that review to be made public.

Peel Ports, who acquired the harbour when the Conservative Government privatised it in the early 1990s, closed Ardrossan's second berth - the so-called 'Irish berth' - permanently in February due to major structural damage which they said meant it was no longer safe to use.

The Irish berth's closure means the second vessel on the Arran route, MV Alfred, is having to use Troon as its mainland port.

Meanwhile MV Isle of Arran, providing cover while the route's usual vessel, MV Caledonian Isles, receives major repairs, can't get into Ardrossan harbour if the winds are too strong.