Caledonian MacBrayne fleet

The Caledonian MacBrayne fleet is the largest fleet of car and passenger ferries in the United Kingdom, with 34 units in operation and another 2 under construction. The company provides lifeline services to 23 islands off the west coast of Scotland, as well as operating routes in the Firth of Clyde.

Caledonian MacBrayne (Calmac) vessels can be readily identified by their black hulls and white superstructures. They have red funnels with black caps that display the Lion Rampant badge with masts in buff. The fleet can be categorised into various groups. Vessels are owned by the asset holding company Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited, which is in turn wholly owned by the Scottish Government.

Groups of vessels

Major units

There are presently ten vessels over 80m length in the CalMac fleet: MV Isle of Arran, MV Hebridean Isles, MV Isle of Mull, MV Lord of the Isles, MV Caledonian Isles, MV Isle of Lewis, MV Clansman, MV Hebrides, MV Finlaggan, and MV Loch Seaforth. These vessels usually operate on the longer crossings, with high passenger numbers.

MV Loch Seaforth, at 116m in length the largest vessel in the fleet, operates on the Ullapool to Stornoway, Lewis crossing. MV Caledonian Isles has the highest passenger capacity and can carry 1000 people on the Ardrossan to Brodick, Arran crossing. MV Hebrides crosses The Minch from Uig, Skye, while MV Isle of Mull, MV Isle of Lewis and MV Clansman are based in Oban, serving Mull, Coll, Colonsay, Tiree and the Outer Hebrides. MV Lord of the Isles is based in Mallaig and serves Armadale and South Uist. MV Finlaggan and MV Hebridean Isles serve Islay from Kennacraig.^[1] During the summer, MV Isle of Arran, replaced at Islay in 2011,^[2] supplements the Ardrossan - Brodick service and sails to Campbeltown. She is a spare vessel during the winter months.

Two new dual fuel ferries are being built by Ferguson Marine Engineering.^[3] The first, named MV Glen Sannox is due to enter service at Ardrossan,^[4] with the second, Hull 802 as yet un-named.^[5]

Clyde services

The Wemyss Bay to Rothesay route is operated by two vessels, built in Poland, MV Bute (delivered in spring 2005) and MV Argyle, which entered service in 2007. There was much controversy following the decision to award the shipbuilding contracts to yards outside Scotland.^[6] The streakers' removal from Rothesay was delayed by pier work to install an end-loading linkspan, allowing full ro-ro operation.^[6]

The former Clyde ferries, MV Jupiter, MV Juno and MV Saturn had provided the Dunoon and Rothesay services for the best part of 35 years. They were nicknamed the "streakers", because of their speed and ability to manoeuvre rapidly both at sea and in port. Juno and Jupiter were withdrawn from service in 2010, and by June 2011 Juno had been broken up at Rosneath,^[7] meanwhile Jupiter was sold to breakers in Denmark for recycling in that month.^[8]

From 2002, the service to Dunoon was supplemented by passenger catamaran MV Ali Cat, owned by Solent and Wightline Cruises and chartered by CalMac from Red Funnel Line.^[9] MV Saturn last served Dunoon on 29 June 2011, and was then scheduled to operate the summer relief on the Arran crossing.^[10] From 30 June 2011, the Gourock - Dunoon service was awarded on a passenger-only basis to the newly formed David MacBrayne Ltd subsidiary Argyll Ferries.^[11] Argyll Ferries purchased MV Ali Cat and a former Irish boat renamed MV Argyll Flyer to serve the route. Argyll Flyer was not available for the start of the passenger-only service due to prop shaft problems. The company leased the cruise boat MV Clyde Clipper from Clyde Cruises to start the service, but she was out of service with engine problems for most of the first day.^[12]

Loch class

The Loch class are a group of smaller vessels with a single car deck, running the length of the ship, with a ramp at each end. They vary in length from 54.27m down to 30.2m. Most are symmetrical when viewed from the side, with no operational bow or stern. Passenger accommodation is down one or both sides of the ship. MV Loch Portain, MV Loch Buie and MV Loch Shira also have a lounge above the car deck. They operate on shorter crossings, usually between 5 and 30 minutes, although MV Loch Portain takes 70 minutes to cross the Sound of Harris between Berneray and Leverburgh.

The original four Loch class vessels were based on MV Isle of Cumbrae. At 30.2m in length, they can carry 12 cars and 200 passengers.^[1] The largest and newest, MV Loch Shira, is 54.27m by 13.90m and can carry 32 cars and 250 passengers.^[1] She was built for and has run on the Largs to Cumbrae route since 2007. A mere 7 centimetres shorter, MV Loch Fyne and MV Loch Dunvegan were built for the Skye crossing. They were made redundant by the opening of the Skye Bridge and eventually found redeployment elsewhere.

Of similar design, but larger than the Loch class, MV Hallaig was launched in 2012 for the Raasay service. She is powered by a hybrid combination of batteries and a small diesel engine - a world first for a sea-going RO-RO vessel.^[13] A second hybrid ferry, MV Lochinvar, was launched in May 2013 for the Tarbert to Portavadie route.^[14] The third hybrid ferry, MV Catriona, was launched on 11 December 2015 and entered service on the Claonaig to Lochranza route in September 2016.^[15]

Passenger-only vessels

MVs Argyll Flyer and Ali Cat

MV Argyll Flyer (244 passengers) and the catamaran MV Ali Cat (250 passengers) are passenger-only ferries used on the Gourock - Dunoon service. The ferries, formerly operated by Argyll Ferries, were acquired when the company was incorporated into Caledonian MacBrayne in January 2019.^[16]

MV Chieftain

MV Chieftain is a passenger-only vessel leased from Clyde Marine to operate the Gourock to Kilcreggan service since June 2020. She has the capacity for 100 passengers.

Other vessels

There are three vessels in the fleet which cannot be listed in the above categories.

MV Carvoria

MV Carvoria is a small, 12 metre-long vessel used on the Kerrera service. She was built in 2017 by Malakoff Limited in Shetland. She is a bow loading vessel of similar design to the Island Class vessels and can take twelve passengers and one car, although due to vehicle restrictions on Kerrera she rarely carries cars. She is the smallest vessel in the fleet.

MV Coruisk

MV Coruisk is a 65 m "sheltered water vessel", operating on the Oban to Craignure route in summer, and relieving on the Clyde in winter.^[17] Her design allows her to make the crossing in reverse when sea conditions allow.^[17]

MV Lochnevis

MV Lochnevis is a highly specialised ship serving the Small Isles of Eigg, Canna, Rùm and Muck from Mallaig. She is 49.2 m long, and has capacity for 190 passengers. Her vehicle deck can accommodate up to 14 cars, but is empty on most sailings due to the lack of roads and vehicle restrictions on the Small Isles. She is instead used mostly for goods and vital equipment for the islands. Lochnevis has a surprisingly large vehicle ramp, which dominates her appearance.^[18] This allows her to berth a considerable distance from slipways, protecting her exposed Azipod propulsion systems in shallow waters.

Fleet statistics

Name	Cars	Type	Launched	Shipbuilder
MV Isle of Cumbrae	18	Car ferry	1977	Ailsa Shipbuilding Company
MV Isle of Arran	80	Car ferry	1983	Ferguson Ailsa Ltd
MV Hebridean Isles	68	Car ferry	1985	Cochrane Shipbuilders Ltd
MV Loch Striven	12	Car ferry	1986	R.Dunston
MV Loch Linnhe	12	Car ferry	1986	R.Dunston
MV Loch Riddon	12	Car ferry	1986	R.Dunston
MV Loch Ranza	12	Car ferry	1987	R.Dunston
MV Isle of Mull	80	Car ferry	1987	Ferguson Shipbuilders
MV Lord of the Isles	56	Car ferry	1989	Ferguson Shipbuilders
MV Loch Dunvegan II	36	Car ferry	1991	Ferguson Shipbuilders
MV Loch Fyne	36	Car ferry	1991	Ferguson Shipbuilders
MV Loch Buie	10	Car ferry	1992	J W Miller & Sons Ltd
MV Loch Tarbert	18	Car ferry	1992	J W Miller & Sons Ltd
MV Caledonian Isles	110	Car ferry	1993	Richards Shipbuilders
MV Isle of Lewis	123	Car ferry	1995	Ferguson Shipbuilders
MV Loch Bhrusda	18	Car ferry	1996	McTay Marine
MV Loch Alainn	24	Car ferry	1997	Buckie Shipbuilders Ltd
MV Clansman V	90	Car ferry	1998	Appledore Shipbuilders
MV Ali Cat	0	Passenger catamaran	1999	South Boats of East Cowes
MV Lochnevis II	14	Car ferry	2000	Ailsa Shipbuilding Company
MV Hebrides III	110	Car ferry	2000	Ferguson Shipbuilders
MV Argyll Flyer	0	Passenger ferry	2001	OCEA
MV Loch Portain	32	Car ferry	2003	Feniks, Gdańsk and McTay Marine
MV Coruisk III	40	Car ferry	2003	Appledore Shipbuilders
MV Bute VII	60	Car ferry	2005	Remontowa Group
MV Argyle VII	60	Car ferry	2006	Remontowa Group
MV Loch Shira	36	Car ferry	2006	Ferguson Shipbuilders
MV Chieftain	0	Passenger ferry	2007	Voyager Boatyard
MV Finlaggan	85	Car ferry	2010	Remontowa Group
MV Hallaig	23	Hybrid Car ferry	2012	Ferguson Shipbuilders
MV Lochinvar	23	Hybrid Car ferry	2013	Ferguson Shipbuilders
MV Loch Seaforth	143	Car ferry	2014	Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft
MV Catriona	23	Hybrid Car ferry	2015	Ferguson Marine
MV Carvoria	1	Car ferry	2017	Malakoff Limited
MV Glen Sannox	127	LNG Car ferry	2017	Ferguson Marine
Hull 802	127	LNG Car ferry		Ferguson Marine