Scottish Islands News

The MV Isle of Islay, the first of two vessels to serve the islands of Islay and Jura in Scotland, has been launched at Cemre Marin Endustri shipyard in Turkey.The vessel, which is one of four ferries being built at the yard, marks a significant milestone in Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited’s (CMAL) commitment to delivering new ferries to serve the Scottish islands.Scheduled for delivery in October 2024, the vessel will have capacity for up to 450 passengers and 100 cars, or 14 commercial vehicles.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) announced the launch of MV Isle of Islay on March 16, 2024 at the Cemre Marin Endustri shipyard in Yalova, Turkey.It is the first of four ferries being built at the yard, and marks a major milestone in CMAL’s commitment to delivering new ferries to serve the Scottish islands. The hull is now structurally complete, all blocks for the vessel have been erected and surveyed.The ferry, which will serve Islay and Jura, is set to be delivered in October 2024.

U.K.-based safety and survival solutions provider Survitec said it has completed its acquisition of Blue Anchor Fire & Safety, a Scottish provider of survival solutions to the fisheries, maritime and offshore energy industries.The investment, part of Survitec’s expansion strategy, follows the acquisition in May of Norway’s Hansen Protection, a provider of personal protective equipment.Baba Devani, Chief Executive Officer, Marine, Survitec, said, “We are delighted to announce this acquisition…

Energy regulator Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has been "unable to approve" plans for two huge subsea cables to take energy from the Scottish islands to the mainland.The transmission links from Shetland and the Western Isles were proposed by Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) to connect planned new wind farms on the islands to the national grid.In March 2019 Ofgem said it was minded to approve the estimated £709 million link.The proposal from SSEN for a 600MW transmission link was based on the largest planned project, Viking Energy Wind Farm, securing subsidies through the UK Government’s Autumn Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction.The award of these subsidies would have provided confidence that the wind farm is likely to progress…

Britain's government on Thursday said all new ships ordered from 2025 and aimed for its waters must be equipped with zero emission technology, as part of a new plan to cut maritime pollution.Britain last month announced a target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, making it the first among the major G7 countries to set such a goal.As part of a new "Clean Maritime Plan" unveiled on Thursday, the government said ships ordered from 2025 onwards must have zero-emission capabilities.

The first cruise ship arrival of the year will enter Lerwick Harbour this weekend at the start of a record-breaking season which is expected to see the most passengers and vessels yet at the Shetland port, along with the highest gross tonnage of cruise ships, including the biggest vessels to date. • Almost 54,000 passengers are expected, up on the 2014 record of 43,273. • 78 vessels are currently due, beating the high of 52 in 2012. • The cumulative tonnage at 2,212,023 gross tonnes tops the 1,684,699 gross tonnes set in 2014. • The record for the largest cruise ship will be broken twice – by P&O Cruises 115,055 gross tonne Azura on 30 June, followed by Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Silhouette (122,210 gross tonnes) on 14 August, with around 3,100 and 2,900 passenger capacity respectively.

Planet Ocean inform that they are supporting the UK Met Office and Plymouth Marine Laboratory to gather real-time Met-Ocean Data with their AXYS Watchman (WM-500) data acquisition and telemetry systems. The WM-500 can be configured to control a large variety of sensors providing data manipulation, logging and have the ability to interface with a variety of communication systems. The UK Met Office (UKMO) are using these systems in their range of inshore and offshore data buoy hulls provided by a growing range of manufacturers.

Aberdeen Harbor welcomed its first cruise vessel as it prepares for 12 expected visits to the city during the summer season. The arrival of the cruise vessel Island Sky, famed for its large suites and spacious outside decks, signals the start of the season when it arrives tomorrow (May 21) for the first of what will be three visits as it tours the Scottish Islands and Scandinavia over the course of the summer. Many of the cruises scheduled on such vessels this year will start and end in Aberdeen, with Aberdeen becoming a common cruise embarkation point.