MV Pioneer (1974)
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MV Pioneer at Mallaig, 1987
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: |
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| Namesake: | 1905 paddle steamer on Islay run |
| Owner: | Scottish Transport Group (STG) |
| Operator: | Caledonian MacBrayne |
| Port of registry: | Glasgow |
| Route: | Islay and many other in Western Isles and Clyde |
| Builder: | Robb Caledon, Leith |
| Cost: | £1.000.000 |
| Yard number: | 515 |
| Launched: | 4 January 1974 |
| Christened: | Mrs William Ross, wife of the then Scottish Secretary of State |
| In service: | 14 August 1974 |
| Out of service: | 1 November 2003 |
| Homeport: | Glasgow |
| Identification: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Steel Double Screw Motor Vessel |
| Tonnage: | 1,088 GT |
| Length: | 67.47 m (221 ft) |
| Beam: | 13.75 m (45 ft) |
| Draft: | 2.413 m (8 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Mirrlees Blackstone Diesels each 1700 S.H.P |
| Speed: | 16 kts |
| Boats & landing craft carried: |
2 lifeboats |
| Capacity: | 356/218 passengers, 32 cars |
| Crew: | 21 |
MV Pioneer is a stern / side loading ferry built in 1974, in service for 29 years covering nearly all of Caledonian MacBrayne's routes. She now serves the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea and was chartered to rescue Liberian refugees.
MV Pioneer was built to replace the smaller MV Arran between West Loch Tarbert and Port Ellen on Islay, in competition with unsubsidised Western Ferries. She was the longest vessel to operate this far up the loch. For ten years Pioneer rarely left the Islay roster. In 1978 CalMac took over the Western Ferries terminal at Kennacraig, three miles down the loch, and in February 1979, Pioneer was replaced by the larger MV Iona. During a refit at Leith, her two cranes were removed and two side-loading ramps were connected to a large car hoist, for use at terminals without linkspans, allowing her to replace the ageing MV Bute as the Mallaig - Armadale ferry. Her bridge deck was extended and her bridge wings clipped to help with loading.
After September 1979 Pioneer had a very varied life, covering nearly all of CalMac's routes. Relief sailings for the winter period remained the same over the years. She covered the Islay run in October, then spent three months on the Clyde, on the Kilcreggan run and assisting the Streakers, had her annual refit and then came back to cover the Small Isles service from Mallaig (the largest ship to operate on this service). She also gave a winter evening, passenger-only sailing from Largs to Brodick (Arran), until the arrival of MV Isle of Arran in 1984. Pioneer also had brief periods at Coll, Tiree, Barra, Colonsay, Canna, Lochboisdale, Lochmaddy, Craighouse and Lochaline for passenger and livestock runs. In the summer she was emergency relief on a variety of routes, including MV Columba's Oban to Colonsay run and an overnight run from Mallaig to the Outer Isles. Pioneer has also provided many charter trips, including to Campbeltown, Fort William and Skye.
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