Ferry fleet replacement plan

Plan to spend £350 million on new ferries 5/6/14

Ambitious plans to renew aging Caledonian Macbrayne ferries with a fleet of modern ships costing £350 million have been unveiled.

Two large vessels to handle the long voyages to the Western Isles or the larger Inner Hebrides islands would be ordered in 2020 at an estimated total cost of £57 million.

In addition, the two inter-island ferries in the Western Isles would also replaced with new-build ships.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) - the wholly-owned Scottish Government firm which owns the 31 lifeline ferries leased to Cal Mac Ferries to serve the west coast, Hebridean islands and the Clyde estuary - intends to implement a ship replacement programme that will “meet the existing and future needs of the remote and island communities of Scotland.”

It also plans upgrades at some of the 24 ferry harbour facilities it has throughout the region.

Funding primarily comes from the Scottish Government and if approved, the company intends to order about 16 new-build ferries over the next ten years in a bid to reduce the age of the fleet from the current 20 years average to 13 years.

The oldest of the present fleet is MV Eigg which was built in 1974.

CMAL said the total cost of new vessels is estimated at £318 million plus 10% project costs.

Two new ships, the MV Lochinvar for Tarbert, Argyll, and the much larger £43 million MV Loch Seaforth will come into service this year.

The first of the new ship-building programme is a small passenger freight ferry, expected for 2015, with another small ferry being delivered the following year.

By 2022, some eight brand new ferries should be providing lifeline services for tiny communities in remote peninsulas and small islands dotted about the west coast.

In addition, three medium sized replacement ferries - expected to be about 60 to 75 metres long, around the size of the MV Bute and the MV Coruisk - are on the cards.

The first is earmarked to come off the blocks in 2016 with the handover of the third ship of this class by 2019.

CMAL said its strategy “reflects the investment priorities” identified within the Scottish Government’s own ferries plan.