Caledonian MacBrayne’s new vessel for the Wemyss Bay-Rothesay service, MV Bute, will be launched in Poland on Wednesday, February 9.

A delegation of senior Company representatives has just returned from Gdansk in Poland where final preparations for the launch were being arranged.

CalMac Chairman Dr Harold Mills, who led the group, said: “We are delighted with the progress being made on MV Bute and the launch in a fortnight marks a very significant stage in the vessel’s completion schedule.  A lot of work remains to be done to ensure that the ship will be ready in time for her to take up her duties at the end of June. We are now planning for her homecoming which will be marked by a series of special events, culminating in the official naming, which will be held at Rothesay. All our launches are special events and I am very much looking forward to this one which marks a very significant new era, being the first new ship we will have introduced on the Upper Clyde for 30 years. She, with her sister ship announced last month by the Transport Minister, Nicol Stephen, will bring the third generation of car ferries to the Wemyss Bay to Rothesay route."

Part of the traditional part of the launching ceremony will be the placing of a Scottish one pound coin under the keel of the new vessel as she is slipped into the water at the Northern yard of the Remontowa Group which has been building the new ship.

MV Bute will hit the water sideways and CalMac is currently investigating the possibility of covering the event with a web cam to cover the event. Dr Mills added: “The yard has promised a spectacular launch and while MV Bute will still not be in her full company colours, the event promises to be spectacular. It will also involve a Scottish contingent from Gdansk and the yard is keen that they show the event as widely as possible to let the people of Wemyss Bay and Rothesay in particular see something of what they are about to enjoy. The ship is looking very good at this stage and I am sure that by the time the fitting out work has been completed we will have a vessel which will be superbly appointed and everything our customer will hope for. Her introduction on the route will bring a new set of standards to our fleet on the Upper Clyde.”

Funding of up to £8.75million for the new ship was announced in October, 2003, by Minister of Transport, Nicol Stephen MSP.  The new MV Bute will actually be the seventh ship on the Clyde to have the name.  The first was one of the original paddle steamers built for the Wemyss Bay Railway when it opened in 1865, while the next four were cargo ships sailing all the way from Glasgow and discharging at the various small piers on the Firth until they reached Rothesay and beyond.  The best known Bute, however, was the car ferry which entered service for The Caledonian Steam Packet Company on the Wemyss Bay-Rothesay crossing on 6 December, 1954.

MV Bute will carry nearly 60 cars (nearly twice as many cars as the 38 carried by Streakers currently operating on the Clyde) and 450 passengers on CalMac’s busiest route, and is expected to take up the Wemyss bay to Rothesay service around the end of June/beginning of July.