UK shipbuilder Cammell Laird has laid the keel of a new double-ended Ro-Pax ferry ordered by Scottish operator Western Ferries (Clyde).
Sound of Scalpay will be the first of two ferries to be built by Cammell Laird for the same owner in fulfilment of a contract awarded in May of this year.
Cammell Laird said this latest contact is a repeat order of an earlier design used in the ferries Sound of Seil and Sound of Soay, both of which were constructed in 2013.
Upon completion, Sound of Scalpay will have a length of 50 metres and space for 220 passengers and up to 40 cars. She will be operated on Western Ferries' Gourock to Dunoon route.
Cammell Laird said the 2013 design has been further optimised to minimise fuel consumption and increase the efficiency of operation.
Fuel efficiency savings will be achieved principally by the efficient matching of the hull design to the propulsion package, the reduction of permanent ballast installed and selection of low energy consumption machinery, providing both environmental and through-life benefits, the builder added.