MV Loch Seaforth (2014)
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | MV Loch Seaforth, "Loch Shìophort" |
| Namesake: | Loch Seaforth |
| Owner: | Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd. |
| Operator: | Caledonian MacBrayne |
| Port of registry: | Glasgow |
| Route: | Stornoway-Ullapool |
| Ordered: | 22 June 2012 |
| Builder: | Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft MBH and Co KG, Flensburg, Germany |
| Cost: | £42 million |
| Yard number: | 764 |
| Launched: | 21 March 2014 |
| Christened: | by Mrs Joan Murray |
| In service: | 16 February 2015 |
| Identification: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Passenger |
| Tonnage: | 7800 |
| Length: | 116 metres (381 ft) |
| Beam: | 18.4 metres (60 ft). |
| Propulsion: | 2 x Wärtsilä, 3 x auxiliary |
| Speed: | 19.2 knots (22.1 mph; service speed) |
| Capacity: | 700 passengers, 143 cars |
MV Loch Seaforth (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Sìophort) is a Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited-owned ferry operated by Caledonian MacBrayne between Stornoway and Ullapool. She was launched on 21 March 2014 and entered service in mid-February 2015, replacing the former vessel, the 1995-built MV Isle of Lewis.
A replacement vessel for the Stornoway-Ullapool route was announced by Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown MSP on 8 June 2012. Two weeks later on 22 June, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited announced that the contract to construct had been signed with Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft MBH and Co KG in Germany. The name, Loch Seaforth was chosen in a competition run by CMAL, reviving that of MacBrayne's 1947 Stornoway mailboat. Construction commenced on 16 September 2013 with the cutting of the first steel.
After the shed at the Flensburger shipyard suffered storm damage from the St. Jude storm, they announced that the Loch Seaforth's delivery was to be delayed by about two weeks as a result of repairs to the shed roof. The vessel was finally launched on 21 March 2014, and was christened by Mrs Joan Murray, the eldest daughter of the late Captain John Smith, who was master of the original 1947 mailboat. There are also concerns over the timetables for the new vessel. Despite being capable of 24-hour operation, it was thought that the Loch Seaforth would not carry out 24-hour sailings in summer. She replaced the 1995-built MV Isle of Lewis, which remained as a back-up vessel on the route until the summer of 2015.
MV Loch Seaforth is operated by Caledonian MacBrayne on the Stornoway to Ullapool route. The Loch Seaforth departed Germany on her delivery voyage on 4 November 2014 and arrived in Greenock on 7 November 2014. After arrival, the ship commenced sea trials before going being laid up, owing to the unfinished piers at Stornoway and Ullapool. On 12 November 2014, she sailed to Ullapool to conduct berthing trials, which were successful and returned to the Clyde. On 6 December 2014, she sailed for the first time to carry out crew familiarisation tests at her new hometown of Stornoway, despite the terminal not yet ready to accommodate her, before returning to the Clyde once again.
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