The first of two new ferries for Scotland’s Little Minch routes has been launched in Turkey as part of an effort to improve capacity and resilience for island communities.
MV Lochmor was floated on 23 August at the Cemre Marin Endustri shipyard in Yalova. She is the first of a pair of sister vessels, alongside MV Claymore, ordered to replace the ageing single-ship service of MV Hebrides between Uig on Skye, Tarbert on Harris, and Lochmaddy on North Uist.
The new vessel can carry up to 450 passengers and 100 cars, or 14 commercial vehicles. The Scottish Government allocated £115 million in 2022 to fund the Little Minch ferries, including related port improvements. Cemre Marin Endustri won the construction contract in February 2023, following a competitive tender.
The launch was attended by representatives of CMAL and other stakeholders. The vessel was officially launched by Kay MacLeod, a long-serving CalMac employee based at Tarbert ferry terminal.
Following launch, Lochmor will undergo outfitting and system installation before trials at sea. Delivery to Scotland is expected in late 2026, after which she will complete crew familiarisation and local testing before entering service. A community event is planned in Tarbert next year, allowing residents to tour the vessel.
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, said: “I’m delighted to see the successful launch of the MV Lochmor, which marks another significant milestone in our efforts to renew the ferry fleet serving the Clyde and Hebrides network. The Scottish Government is committed to investing in our ferry services, and the MV Lochmor, along with the MV Claymore and significant port improvements, will deliver our goal of a two-vessel service connecting Uig, Tarbert and Lochmaddy.”
Kevin Hobbs, Chief Executive Officer at CMAL, said: “It’s great to see another successful launch at Cemre, with the third of four vessels launched in 17 months. The communities to be served by these vessels will notice a significant improvement in capacity and reliability when MV Lochmor comes into service next year.”
Duncan Mackison, Chief Executive Officer of CalMac, said: “I am delighted that, in Kay MacLeod, MV Lochmor has been launched by a long-standing CalMac employee who has a steadfast commitment to the islands this vessel will serve. With the uplift in capacity and reliability MV Lochmor and MV Claymore will bring, communities and businesses in Skye, Harris and North Uist will prosper with these new vessels in service.”
Lochmor is the third of four standardised ferries being built at Cemre for CMAL. The first, MV Isle of Islay, is due to begin service later this year. CMAL, Cemre and CalMac say their shared goal is to deliver all four new vessels into service by 2029.
Cool.
So It’s an article about a new commercial Scottish Ferry built in Turkyieyei.
Interesting !
I suspect Türkiye will soon be manufacturing protected patrol vehicles for the British Army. Fancy a Beko 4×4?
‘Beko 4×4’ isn’t that a fridge?
Yeh, just jesting. 😂
But Nurol Makina have opened an office in Lemington Spa. Checking out their web site they manufacture a useful looking range of Foxhound – like 4x4s.
Well they build the Transit there.
You can feel the ground turning in the graveyards of Glasgow. To think Scotland was the heart of British shipbuilding, and now it can’t build small ferries for its Islands, and those that are, are taking an inordinate time to do so.
Good news for the communities that rely on Calmac, but shocking reflection on uk shipbuilding – that a state funded company isn’t confident enough to place ship orders into the state, even when it own a ship building company
Open tendering process
The SNP was livid about Westminster swapping 5 t26s for 31s, claimed it was selling Scotland down the river, but silence on the SNP buying ferries from Turkey
Yeah. Alternatively we could have waited till Ferguson’s had space to build them, then complained that they took too long to enter service. Rock and hard place springs to mind.
If only we had other commercial yards available on the clyde eh? Now, which political party in the last ooohhh…ever? Has stepped in to save any yards?
It really will always be someone else’s fault for nationalists won’t it. They can never accept fault for anything
I’ll be the first to admit that the 2 ferries have been a disaster, there’s no getting away from that fact. Had they been completed on time (6 years ago!) the yard would have been free to construct the ferries currently getting built abroad. But we are where we are. Sniping about the SNP whilst conveniently ignoring Westminster’s incompetence benefits nobody.
*sniping at Westminster whilst conveniently ignoring the SNP’s incompetence benefits nobody.
There, fixed it.
Well said Patrick.
Lol pathetic ScotNat troll. All you lot could cry about for years was an INVENTED grievance because you pretended that Westminster hadn’t given you promised ships, when in fact they went over and above their promises, but the moment the ScotNatsi’s put in an order overseas it’s excuses, excuses and turning a blind eye, and howling hypocricy demanding we talk about Westminsters incompetence?
You lot are pathetic.
What’s pathetic is you resorting to childish name calling whilst ignoring reality. ScotNatsis? Really? Coming from a country that’s about to elect farage as P.M. ! That’s ironic. Supposed to be adults on here. Now pick up your toys and put them back in the pram.
Awww can’t take it when somone stoops to your level you little Natsi? Reminder that the PM is also your PM, and you elect him too.
Nope. Never voted for any English political party in my life. In fact the entire Scottish vote in any general election since before WW2 has been completely irrelevant.You could ignore the number of votes cast or number of mp’s elected to any party and it would not have altered the outcome.
So also no response to the whole point about how Westminster delivered on their promise and the SNP didn’t? Typical Scots Natsi behaviour, tone policing rather than dealing with the actual facts.
Which promises are you referring to? Was it 13 type 26 frigates? You must have mathematical issues if you think 8 is ‘over and above ‘ 13.
How’s that for a fact?
And which promise didn’t the snp deliver?
You mean besides when Westminster ordered the B2 rivers to keep Govan in business?
I notice that the little Scots Natsi couldn’t be bothered to reply to this, maybe because they can’t handle facts.
Replied now. I don’t sit at a keyboard all day hanging on your every word. Some of us have lives to lead.
You can feel the ground turning in the graveyards of Glasgow. To think Scotland was the heart of British shipbuilding, and now it can’t build small ferries for its Islands, and those that are, are taking an inordinate time to do so.
Surely Hyslop should be bemoaning that Scotland was incapable of building these public funded ferries rather than celebrating the launch. Nothing to be proud off.
Way to go eh?
No disrespect to Lisa, but that photo is depressing. Wait . . the whole saga of these ferries is depressing.
Let’s think positive. Maybe they sell Tutkish delight and coffee on the ferries.
This is a government project so we know the fun-sponges will have a hand in it…
Turkish Delight? What about the delight of other nations? It’s discriminatory to suggest that only Turkey can have delight, don’t you know. We’ll spend x billions developing a new all-inclusive delight that provides an adequate level of delight for all persons on borad.
The SnP should be building these ships not sending to Turkey to be built