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Names announced for new Islay and Jura ferries

CalMac Concept art of new Islay ferryCalMac
Concept art of one of the new ferries

Names have been chosen for two new ferries to serve communities on Islay and Jura.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), which owns the ferries, put a shortlist to a public vote earlier this year.

Isle of Islay and Loch Indaal - a sea loch on Islay - got the most votes with the name Pioneer in third place.

Cemre Shipyard in Turkey won the £91m contract to build the ferries which will be operated by CalMac.

Work started in October last year on the first of the boats.

State-owned CMAL had considered 11 bids for the work, including one from the nationalised Ferguson in Inverclyde.

The first ferry is expected to be delivered by October 2024 and will enter service following sea trials. The second ship should follow in early 2025.

Each ship will have capacity for up to 450 passengers and 100 cars, or 14 commercial vehicles.

CMAL said this would provide a combined 40% increase in vehicle and freight capacity on the Islay routes and improve the overall resilience of its wider west coast fleet.

Chief executive Kevin Hobbs thanked the public for the more than 1,300 votes cast.

He added: "Work is progressing well at Cemre Shipyard on the sister ferries, and we look forward to seeing Isle of Islay and Loch Indaal out on the network serving communities in the not-too-distant future."

Transport Secretary Kevin Stewart said ships underlined the Scottish government's commitment to brining in new ferries.

Cemre also won a £115m contract to construct new vessels for CalMac's Skye, Harris and North Uist service.

The announcement of the names has come amid continuing controversy over the construction of two CMAL ferries at the Ferguson shipyard.

Christopher Brindle Ferguson shipyardChristopher Brindle
Glen Sannox and Hull 802 are still being completed at Ferguson Marine shipyard

The ships are now more than £200m overbudget and six years late.

On Tuesday, Economy Secretary Neil Gray said a review had found finishing the second ferry, known as Hull 802, did not represent value for money in "narrow" terms.

But he said completing the vessel at the nationalised yard was the fastest way of delivering more ferry capacity and would protect jobs.

The first ship, Glen Sannox, is due to be delivered to operator CalMac in the autumn.

Hull 802 is expected in summer 2024.