By
Rebecca Gibson |
Scottish operator Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited’s (CMAL) new ro-pax ferry Loch Seaforth has left the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) yard in Germany.
FSG was commissioned to build the ferry in June 2012 after a competitive international tender process initiated as part of the Scottish Government’s draft ferries plan, which aims to upgrade the country’s ferry services.
Designed to accommodate up to 700 passengers and 143 cars, or 20 commercial vehicles, the 116m ferry demonstrated a service speed of 19.2 knots during sea trials and consumed 9% less fuel than originally outlined in the contract. The new £41.8 million ro-pax vessel also features a combined mechanical/electrical propulsion drive system to provide extensive system redundancy and allow for maintenance during operation, which will minimise downtime.
“The building of Loch Seaforth demonstrates once again that we are successful when it comes to tailor-made and innovative solutions which benefit our customers,” said Peter Sierk, FSG’s managing director. “We understand what the customer wants, concentrate on coming to grips with that and, in the end, come up with a tailor-made concept that continues to be honed during construction to make something even better than what was promised in the contract. That’s something you find almost nowhere else.”
Scheduled to begin a regular service towards the end of this year, Loch Seaforth will replace Isle of Lewis and Muirneag and operate a 24-hour service on the Stornoway-Ullapool route between the mainland in north-west Scotland and the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides.