The flagship of Scotland’s largest ferry company has becoming more environmentally friendly – thanks to a new paint job.
A new high tech paint coating is set to make CalMac ferry MV Loch Seaforth more fuel-efficient by reducing the barnacles that slow it down.
Ironically the ship – which sails on the Stornoway to Ullapool route – broke down after its annual refit last month.
Vessel owner Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) carried out the repainting work during the recent annual dry dock maintenance in Birkenhead. The work involved completely blasting the hull back to bare steel and repainting with a new low emission, fuel saving coating.
The silicone based paint, called Jotun Seaquest, uses cutting edge anti fouling technology to keep the vessel free of barnacles and other debris that attaches to the hull while at sea.
“This new non-stick hull uses a coating that makes it much harder for organisms to attach themselves to the vessel, making it more streamlined. This means it requires less fuel to maintain its normal operational speed,” said CalMac’s Director of Operations, Robert Morrison.
John Salton, Fleet Manager at CMAL said:”The new coating will help to reduce future dry dock periods and hopefully allow a quicker return to service. We will monitor the performance of the new coating over the next year and we may consider applying it to other vessels in the fleet.”
Last month Western Isles Labour has called for a an independent inquiry into Caledonian MacBrayne’s ferry “debacle”. Spare parts had to be flown from Denmark to the MV Loch Seaforth.
The £42m vessel was laid up for days in Stornoway for repairs.
