A Member of the Scottish Parliament has criticised the country's Transport Secretary for apparently being unaware about a news report of a toxic gas leak on a local ferry.
Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said it is "unacceptable" that Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn had not been briefed about a BBC report of a leak of highly flammable methane gas aboard the CalMac ferry Glen Sannox in June 2025.
During a recent meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s Transport Committee, Flynn admitted that he had not been briefed about the report, prompting Rennie to remind him to "familiarise himself" with the details of the leak.
According to the report, an estimated 700 kg of methane gas vented out from the ferry's for around 12 minutes while it was underway between Arran and Troon with 82 passengers embarked.
Rennie also pointed out that more than a year had passed before news of the incident was finally made known to the public despite the Transport Secretary's earlier promise of transparency.
"The details of what had happened were all over [BBC] from midnight last night [Wednesday, September 9, –ed], but Mr Flynn seemed to be oblivious," said Rennie.
Flynn released a statement later in the day on Wednesday admitting that he had not been briefed on the incident but that, "details were shared with the former cabinet secretary for transport on June 30, 2025, in line with agreed processes."
The secretary added that the issue that caused the leak on Glen Sannox has already been addressed by way of a "minor design modification", and that a similar solution has also been installed on sister ship Glen Rosa.
Both Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa were originally scheduled to be delivered to CalMac in 2018. However, Glen Sannox was finally handed over in late 2024 while Glen Rosa is expected to be delivered just before the end of this year.
Even after her delivery, Glen Sannox needed to be pulled from service more than once due to numerous structural and technical issues.
Scottish shipbuilder Ferguson Marine, which is being heavily subsidised, has faced criticism for its work on the two long-delayed CalMac ferries.
Ferguson is set to cut nearly a quarter of its workforce, as company executives expect the completion of Glen Rosa would leave it with virtually no shipbuilding activity while it makes the necessary preparations for negotiations on new vessel contracts with the Scottish Government.
