THE decision to award CalMac the ferry contract again has been welcomed but the tender process branded a waste of time.

Publicly owned CalMac beat private firm Serco to land the contract to continue to run the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services.

After months of union protests and fears over potential detriment to jobs sand services the First Minister announced CalMac as the preferred bidder for the £900m contract.

The deal will mean a £6m investment programme in ports and vessels, integrated ticketing and a plan to increase passenger and vehicle traffic by 10%.

It also sees the CalMac pension scheme protected, a no compulsory redundancy policy and the firm’s Living Wage status continue.

Ms Sturgeon said: “CalMac have a long and proud tradition of running the Clyde and Hebrides routes, and the company is woven into the fabric of the communities they serve.

“Their tender offers a good deal for those communities served by these vital transport links and ensures that we can maximise the opportunities to support and nurture our island economies.”

It means the company will continue to run the services including the Clyde coast routes Ardrossan to Arran, Largs to Millport and Wemyss Bay to Rothesay as well as the services to the Hebridean islands like Coll and Tiree.

The announcement was welcomed by unions and opposition parties but the tender process was branded a waste of time which shouldn’t be repeated.

Pat Rafferty Unite Scottish Secretary said: “CalMac is as much part of our island heritage as the communities themselves and everyone’s best interests have been served by this decision today.

“This should now be the end of wasteful and costly tendering for this contract which is completely unnecessary for this vital public service.”

Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary said: "Delight with the decision is tempered with disappointment that this hugely wasteful, expensive and destabilising exercise was undertaken.”

David Stewart, Labour Highlands and Islands MSP said: “We have to ask why the SNP Government thought it was necessary to go throw a costly and time consuming process, which put the future of a public CalMac at risk, when it simply didn't need to.”

The Tories however thought the tender process was skewed in CalMac’s favour.

Conservative transport spokesman Alex Johnstone said: “We congratulate CalMac on winning this tender. It’s no surprise that CalMac won. The tender was, from the start, constructed in such a way to deter non publicly owned ferry companies from bidding and then winning.”