The Scottish Government has confirmed it will nationalise the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow if no buyer is found within four weeks.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay confirmed the move and said the priority was to protect the yard's 300 workers and complete the two ferries to service Western Isles routes.
Ferguson Marine went into administration last month after a long row between owner Clyde Blowers Capital and CMAL, the state-run company that leases assets to ferry operator CalMac.
Ferguson had been awarded the £97 million fixed-price contract to build two new ferries but had refused to foot the bill after the cost of building them nearly doubled.
MV Glen Sannox is more than a year late, while Hull 802 is nearly two years behind schedule.
The Scottish Government will run Ferguson under an agreement with administrators Michael Magnay and Robert Harding of Deloitte until efforts to find a buyer have been exhausted.
