Ferguson faces renewed fears over job cuts.

The Glasgow-based shipbuilder Ferguson is once again waiting to hear if the Scottish Executive will give it work and keep the yard going. Ferguson’s 118-strong workforce hopes to learn next week if the government will place an order to build a vessel for the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA). The order could be worth as much as £20 million and would secure work for the yard for up to two years.

Ferguson faces a stiff battle with other yards including a German shipbuilder and Devon-based Appledore Shipbuilders who are on the short list of contenders. Jobs would go if Ferguson’s fail to stave off the competition, according to Alex Logan, Ferguson’s GMB union spokesman.

Last year the Scottish Executive placed a similar order with one a Polish shipyard. Ferguson is understood to be currently taking on minor contracts for non-shipbuilding work just to keep its workforce busy.

Logan said it’s an attempt to keep hold of quality staff which the company will need in the future, especially if it manages to secure part of massive contract to build aircraft carriers for the MoD which is expected to begin in 2008. Ferguson is currently working on a ferry for Gourock-based operator Caledonian MacBrayne. Work on that is expected to be completed in August or September this year, leaving the yard with no major contracts after that.