06/02/2015

Cammel Laird To Build £5.7m Ferry

Transport Minister Danny Kennedy has announced the award of a contract for the construction of a new £5.7m ferry for Strangford.

The contract has been awarded to Cammell Laird from Merseyside after an open procurement exercise which had attracted interest from shipyards across Europe.

The new ferry is due to be delivered by August 2016.

The Minister said: "The new ferry will replace the existing MV Strangford with a new modern ferry that has been designed specifically for this service. The new ferry will be built over the next 18 months and, when it comes into operation, will provide a more reliable and efficient ferry service."

The new ferry will have capacity for 28 cars and 260 passengers and will share the ferry operation on a rotational basis with the MV Portaferry II. This will provide improved capacity and remove the need for a 7.5 tonne weight restriction that is in place when the MV Strangford is in service.

(CD/JP)

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