FSG to build new design RoPax ferry for Caledonian Maritime Assets

JUNE 22, 2012 — German shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft mbH & Co. KG (FSG) has booked its second newbuilding order this month. The new contract comes from Scotland’s  Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) and is for a new type of RoPax ferry and follows the June 14 news that the shipyard is to build two seismic vessel for Western Geco (see earlier story).

The new 116 m Roll On Roll Off vehicle passenger ferry will be capable of operating 24 hours a day and will have a capacity for up to 700 passengers, and 143 cars or 26 trucks. It is scheduled for delivery at the end of June 2014 and will go into service shortly thereafter.J

CMAL says that financing for the £42 million (about $66 million) vessel is being provided by Lloyds Banking Group plc (LBG) and that it will enter into an operating lease with LBG and, following delivery, will charter the vessel to the operator of the route.

CMAL Chief Executive, Guy Platten, said: “We are delighted that the contracts have been signed for the new vessel and I look forward to seeing the final designs and watching the ferry being built over the next two years. The new ferry, which will be faster, greener, more reliable, will provide a critical lifeline service for communities between the Western Isles and the Scottish mainland.”

The new ferry is to operate between Stornoway and Ullapool linking the mainland of northwestern Scotland with the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides. It will replace two existing ferries.

FSG Managing Director Peter Sierk said “for the customer, serving this route with just one rather than two ships was the most economic solution.”

That means that the new ferry has to be capable of meeting very high demands on a daily basis and has to be as reliable as possible.

“It is extremely important to our client,” said Mr. Sierk, “that he can provide the best possible service to his own customers in turn, in other words his passengers. That’s why he chose us, because we can offer just the right kind of reliable ship operation.”

FSG says that ships it builds not only consume up to 30 percent less fuel than conventional vessels but are also characterized by particularly low emission levels.