MV Lochinvar

MV Lochinvar
Career (UK)
Name:	MV Lochinvar
Namesake:	Lochinvar
Owner:	Caledonian Maritime Assets
Operator:	Caledonian MacBrayne
Port of registry:	Glasgow
Route:	Tarbert - Portavadie Tarbert - Lochranza (winter only service)
Ordered:	2011[1]
Builder:	Ferguson Shipbuilders, Port Glasgow
Cost:	£1000000
Yard number:	726
Launched:	23 May 2013
Christened:	by Mrs Patricia Platten
Completed:	2013
Identification:	IMO number: MMSI Number: 235099237 Callsign: 2GOU2
Status:	In service
General characteristics
Type:	ro-ro vehicle and passenger ferry
Tonnage:	135 DWT
Length:	43.5 m (143 ft)
Beam:	12.2 m (40 ft)
Draught:	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Installed power:	Diesel Electric Hybrid: 3 x Volvo Penta Marine D13 MG and Lithium Ion batteries Machinery: 2 x Permanent Magnet Motor 375kW each[2]
Propulsion:	Voith 16 R5 EC/90-1 Units
Speed:	9 kn
Capacity:	150 passengers; 23 cars

MV Lochinvar is a pioneering diesel electric hybrid ferry built for the Caledonian MacBrayne service between Tarbert and Portavadie. She is one of only two passenger and vehicle roll-on, roll-off ferries in the world to incorporate a low-carbon hybrid system of diesel electric and lithium ion battery power and is the second hybrid ferry commissioned and owned by Caledonian Maritime Assets. Both ferries are sea-going and are nearly 150 ft long, accommodating 150 passengers, 23 cars or two HGVs. The first ferry, MV Hallaig, entered service on the Sconser to Raasay route in October 2013.

History

MV Lochinvar was launched on 23 May 2013 at Ferguson Shipbuilders in Port Glasgow by Mrs Patricia Platten, wife of CMAL CEO, Guy Platten. Lochinvar is only the second commercial ship to be fully built and delivered on the Clyde in over five years. The Scottish Government has invested more than £20 million in the project and the European Development Fund (ERDF) invested an additional £450,000 in December 2011.

The names of all ships in the hybrid fleet will follow MV Hallaig and be named after Scottish literature. Hundreds of people voted for the name and Lochinvar received over 55 per cent of the votes cast, with the name reflecting the poem by Sir Walter Scott, written in 1808.

Layout

MV Lochinvar can accommodate 150 passengers, 23 cars or 2 HGVs. She has a service speed of nine knots and is powered by small diesel generator sets, feeding power to a 400 volt switchboard, which supplies power to electric propulsion motors that turn the propulsion units. In addition, 2 lithium-ion battery banks with a total of 700kWh are also available to supply power to the units, reducing fuel and CO2 consumption by at least 20%. The battery banks will be charged overnight from the mains.

The vessel design and power configuration will additionally realise 19-24% savings of power input to the propulsion units over a conventional diesel mechanical solution reducing Carbon Dioxide, Sulphur Oxide and Nitrous Oxide emissions.

Service

MV Lochinvar was built for the service between Tarbert and Portavadie. After undergoing sea trials in the Firth of Clyde between March and May 2014, she entered service on 27 May 2014, releasing MV Isle of Cumbrae.^[3]

Lochinvar led the Commonwealth Flotilla from Greenock to Glasgow on 26 July 2014 as part of celebrations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Throughout winter 2014, Lochinvar will include sailings to Lochranza from Tarbert as part of the winter timetable and will also see service relieving for other vessels in the Calmac fleet as they go for annual drydocking. In January 2015 she took over from MV Loch Shira on the Largs - Cumbrae Route so that Loch Shira could go for her overhaul.

Footnotes