Cammell Laird to mark start of work on £10m ferry

An illustration of the new ferry

Birkenhead shipyard Cammell Laird will next week carry out the keel laying ceremony for a new £10m vessel.

The event is scheduled for next Thursday, May 31, and will signal the start of work on the new ship for Isle of Wight ferry operator Red Funnel.

The name of the new vessel will be announced on the day.

She will provide additional year-round freight capacity Red Funnel’s Southampton-East Cowes route, which currently handles 53% of all freight movements across the Solent, but she will also provide room for 12 passengers.

The 74-metre roll on-roll off ship has been designed to reduce wash to minimise the environmental footprint, and her engines will make her highly fuel efficient.

Cammell Laird won the order from Red Funnel in February this year.

The yard is currently building the technically advanced polar research ship Sir David Attenborough for the British Antarctic Survey.

Linton Roberts, managing director at the yard, said when the order was announced: “We are very excited to have another hull to build.

“It comes on the back of the Sir David Attenborough, which is very advanced now and it will safeguard skilled jobs. We have a number of other ferry contracts that we’re looking at.”

He added: “This is a testament to our growing in-house design capability. We now have a strong technical department that means we can offer design and build contracts to owners.”

It is estimated the Red Funnel contract will safeguard around 80 jobs.

Cammell Laird is scheduled to deliver the ferry in spring 2019.

Red Funnel chairman and chief executive, Kevin George, said: “We are the number one operator for cross-Solent freight and this new ship will provide more early morning capacity on weekdays and more freight-only sailings between October and March each year.

“After a competitive tender, we are delighted to place our third newbuild in succession with a UK yard.”

Business Secretary Greg Clark said: “This is another vote of confidence in British shipbuilding and the excellence of our marine manufacturing sector.

“Red Funnel continues to grow with this new investment in high quality UK engineering.”

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