BOSSES at Ferguson Marine are staying silent on an exact date for the handover of the six-years-late Glen Sannox - as it emerged that eight employees have signed gagging orders about their work at the yard over the last 12 months.

There is still no precise date for the handover of Glen Sannox, due to join the Arran route, despite its final sea trials concluding earlier this month.

The yard’s interim chief executive John Petticrew advised Scottish Government ministers last month that the handover of the vessel to ferry procurement firm CMAL had been pushed back to ‘mid-October’, but no update has been given since.

When approached yesterday, the yard was unable to give an update on the handover date beyond the previously stated timeframe.

Mr Petticrew confirmed last weekend that the vessel’s final sea trials were completed on October 10, following disruption due to a technical 'blackout' on board the ferry during the testing period.

It has also now emerged that the number of yard employees who have signed non-disclosure agreements that prevent them from talking about their work has grown.

A Freedom of Information request made by a national newspaper revealed earlier this week that eight employees had signed gagging orders in the 12 months prior to May 2024.

But the yard defended the decision to ask employees to sign these agreements and took aim at ‘inaccurate’ reporting around the issue.

They said:  “Reporting to date on this issue has been inaccurate. None of the eight employees were asked to sign NDAs upon leaving the shipyard.

“The eight NDAs were all signed during employment, in line with standard practice within the shipbuilding industry, eg, when dealing with commercially sensitive information.”

The Scottish Government has previously drawn criticism from the yard’s former owner, Jim McColl, who in 2022 urged them to waive gagging orders which former managers of the shipyard were forced to sign to stop them speaking out.

The government also came under fire for secrecy around the yard confirming in December last year it had 10 gagging clauses with external private firms in relation to the shipyard.

On the eight new agreements, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministers play no role in contractual matters at the yard.

“Confidentiality agreements to protect commercially sensitive information are standard practice in the industry.”

The Glen Sannox is unable to use Ardrossan Harbour for crossings to Arran until the port gets a long awaited upgrade.

The vessel is expected to sail from Troon harbour until the Ardrossan redevelopment - if approved by the Scottish Government - is completed.