Cromarty Rose

MV Cromarty Rose was the vehicle ferry serving the Nigg-Cromarty route across the Cromarty Firth, providing a summer only service from 1987 to 2009.

MV Cromarty Rose arriving at Nigg
History
United Kingdom
Name: Cromarty Rose
Owner:
  • Seaboard Marine (Nigg) Ltd
  • since 2001: Cromarty Ferry Company
Route: 1987-2009 summers: Nigg - Cromarty
Builder:
Yard number: 439
Launched: 1986
Identification: MMSI 235076973
Status: in service
General characteristics
Class and type: ro-ro vehicle ferry
Tonnage: 28 GT; 11 NT
Length: 43 ft (13 m)
Beam: 19.7 ft (6.0 m)
Decks: 1
Ramps: bow
Installed power: Twin diesels 2 × M6cy 254bhp
Propulsion: 2scr
Speed: 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph)
Capacity: 50 passengers; 2 cars
Crew: 2

History

MV Cromarty Rose was one of the smallest car ferries in the UK,[2] and the only ferry serving the Black Isle, crossing the Cromarty Firth between Nigg and Cromarty. She is a 50 passenger, 2 car vessel built in 1987 in Ardrossan, Scotland for Seaboard Marine (Nigg) Ltd who operated the Cromarty-Nigg service until 2001. After a tendering process, the contract passed to the Cromarty Ferry Company, who purchased the Cromarty Rose from her previous owners.

Service

Built for the Cromarty service, Cromarty Rose operated there from 1987 to 2009. Evening cruises were available for parties of between 10 and 50.[3]

Cromarty Rose became the world's smallest drive-in floating cinema in November 2008, with a showing of The Maggie, to launch the Cromarty Film Festival.[4]

There were some doubts about the future of the service in August 2009 following two engine failures and the resignation of the skipper over concerns about the maintenance standards of the ferry.[5]

In February 2010, Southampton Marine Services announced that they had won a £500,000 contract to build a new ferry for the Cromarty-Nigg service.[6] and Cromarty Rose sailed from Cromarty on 16 February 2010, bound for the Bristol Channel, to run a service to the island of Steep Holm and Flat Holm . She was renamed Westward Ho by her current owner. She is operated by MW Marine.

The replacement vessel, Cromarty Queen, arrived in Cromarty on 10 October 2010, and commenced the summer service in 2011.

References
  1. "Cromarty Rose". Clydebuilt. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2009.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. "Cromarty Ferry". Cromarty Ferry. 18 October 2009.
  3. "Evening Cruises". Cromarty Ferry. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  4. "World's smallest drive-in (floating) cinema". Cromarty Film Festival. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  5. Jackie MacKenzie (27 August 2009). "Rescue drama skipper quits in ferry row". North Star. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  6. "New Cromarty ferry to be built by SMS". This is Hampshire. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
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