Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited has taken ownership of three unfinished ferries at Cemre Shipyard in Turkey in a move to protect vessel deliveries for Scotland’s island communities, according to CMAL.
The Scottish government-owned ferry infrastructure company said MV Loch Indaal, MV Lochmor and MV Claymore are now CMAL assets, although formal handover has not yet taken place.
The move follows exceptionally difficult economic conditions affecting Cemre and other businesses in the region, alongside wider global pressures and Red Sea disruption.
CMAL said the early transfer of ownership is intended to reduce risk, protect public investment and keep construction moving.
The announcement came after MV Loch Indaal completed sea trials. “Our priority remains the completion of these vessels for the communities that depend on them,” CMAL chief executive Kevin Hobbs said. MV Loch Indaal is the second Islay ferry being built at Cemre after MV Isle of Islay. MV Lochmor and MV Claymore are being built for the Little Minch routes serving Uig, Lochmaddy and Tarbert in Harris.
The two Islay ferries were ordered under a £91m ($120m) contract awarded to Cemre in March 2022. They are 94.8-metre vehicle-passenger ferries designed to carry up to 450 passengers and either 100 cars or 14 commercial vehicles. The Little Minch project, also at Cemre, is expected to cost about £115m ($152m), including port works and management costs.
The two ferries are being built to broadly the same specification. CalMac chief executive Duncan Mackison said the ownership change would have no immediate impact on services. Two major vessels are operating as resilience vessels this summer, helped by the arrival of MV Isle of Islay.
Transportation and infrastructure committee chair Cllr Uisdean Robertson said there was “no suggestion that the future of the shipyard itself is in doubt,” calling the move a prudent response to changing economic conditions.
CMAL is a company wholly owned by the Scottish Government that owns vessels, ports, harbours and related infrastructure used for ferry services on Scotland’s west coast, the Clyde Estuary and the Northern Isles.
Cemre Shipyard is a Turkish shipbuilding company based in Yalova.
CalMac Ferries Limited operates ferry services under contract in Scotland. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is the local authority for the Western Isles.
