MV Loch Bhrusda
Berthed at Leverburgh slipway whilst relieving the route she was originally built for in place of Loch Portain, February 2015.
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | MV Loch Bhrusda |
| Namesake: | Loch Bhrusda, Berneray |
| Owner: | Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited |
| Operator: | Caledonian MacBrayne |
| Port of registry: | Glasgow |
| Route: | Spare/relief vessel |
| Builder: | McTay Marine, Bromborough |
| Yard number: | 116 |
| Launched: | March 1996 |
| Completed: | May 1996 |
| In service: | 8 June 1996 |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | in service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | ro-ro vehicle ferry |
| Tonnage: | 246 GT |
| Length: | 35.4 m (116.1 ft) |
| Beam: | 10.8 m (35.4 ft) |
| Draught: | 1.4 m |
| Installed power: | Cummins Diesels |
| Propulsion: | Schottel Pump Jet propulsion system |
| Speed: | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
| Capacity: | 150 passengers and 18 cars |
| Crew: | 3 |
MV Loch Bhrusda is a Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited water-jet propulsion ro-ro car ferry operated by Caledonian MacBrayne. After 11 years operating in the Outer Hebrides, she is now a Clyde-based relief small vessel.
MV Loch Bhrusda was built by McTay Marine on the Mersey. Her sea trials included berthing trials at Largs and Cumbrae Slip, proving her suitable to relieve there. She started the Sound of Harris service in 1996, but it soon became apparent that she was too small and a new vessel was required for the increasingly popular route.
MV Loch Bhrusda's car deck provides space for 18 cars. Passenger accommodation consists of a lounge, with toilet and snack vending machine. The bridge is in the centre of the vessel, above the car deck, giving a better view than the starboard bridge of earlier vessels.
Shallow water in the Sound of Harris led to the adoption of a water-jet propulsion system, rather than the Voith Schneider units of the earlier Loch Class ferries.
MV Loch Bhrusda was built for the new route between Leverburgh on Harris and Berneray, North Uist. The service was opened by MV Loch Tarbert, with Loch Bhrusda taking over on 8 June 1996. The crossing took an hour, initially connecting Leverburgh with a slipway at Otternish on North Uist, the departure point for the previously council-operated ferries to Berneray. For the first few seasons, Loch Bhrusda also carried out these sailings to Berneray. When the Berneray Causeway was completed, in April 1999, linking Berneray to Otternish, the ferry's southern terminus moved to a purpose-built slipway at the northern end of the causeway. Numerous reefs litter the Sound of Harris and a specific route was marked out to ensure the ferry’s safe passage. The MCA required that the vessel could only proceed as long as at least the next two marker buoys were visible. Delays were experienced in poor visibility.
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Wikipedia