MV ''Loch Scavaig'' (ex ''Sound of Sanda'') was a car and passenger ferry, operated until October 2013 by

Western Ferries Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd (also known as Western Ferries) is a private ferry company with its headquarters in Hunters Quay, Scotland. It currently operates on the Firth of Clyde running a year-round, high-frequency vehicle carrying service b ...

across the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

between

Gourock Gourock ( ; ) is a town in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a resort town, seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its ma ...

and

Dunoon Dunoon (; ) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well as forming part of the cou ...

. In 2018, ''Loch Scavaig'' was converted into a saturation dive support vessel and is now owned by Caldive.

History

''Sound of Sanda'' was built in Walsum, Duisburg, Germany in 1963, for Amsterdam City Council. In the mid 1990s, she and her near sister ''Sound of Scalpay'' were purchased by Western Ferries and overhauled at

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

before entering service as ''Sound of Scalpay'' and a second '' Sound of Sanda''. The earlier ''Sound of Sanda'', as , had previously been an

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

ferry. ''Sound of Sanda'' entered service with Western Ferries in 1996. On the acquisition of two brand new ferries in October 2013, ''Sanda'' along with her sister ship ''Sound of Scalpay'' were disposed of by Western Ferries. Both vessels were sold to The Underwater Centre,

Fort William, Highland Fort William is a town in the Lochaber region of the Scottish Highlands, located on the eastern shore of Loch Linnhe in the Highland Council of Scotland. At the 2011 census, Fort William had a population of 15,757, making it the second-lar ...

for conversion to dive barges for the training of commercial divers. From January to June 2018, she was converted into a saturation dive vessel, funded by

Subsea 7 Subsea 7 S.A. (stylised as Subsea7) is a Luxembourgish multinational services company involved in subsea engineering and construction serving the offshore energy industry. The company is registered in Luxembourg with its headquarters in London. ...

and

TechnipFMC TechnipFMC plc is a French-American, UK-domiciled global oil and gas company that provides services for the energy industry. The company was formed by the merger of FMC Technologies of the United States and Technip of France that was announced in ...

. She was renamed ''Loch Scavaig'' but was only in service for 3 months until October 2018 when The Underwater Centre ceased trading and entered administration with the loss of 48 jobs in the Fort William area. ''Loch Scavaig'' was purchased at auction by Caldive of Invergordon at the start of 2019 and is currently laid up with her sister ship ''Loch Sunart'' (ex ''Sound of Scalpay'', built in 1961 and converted to a ROV support vessel). She has recently taken part in some subsea trials.

Layout

''Sound of Sanda'' had a single car deck with bow and stern ramps. The crossing was so short that many passengers stayed in their vehicles, but side viewing decks and passenger cabins were available.

Service

''Gemeentepont 24'' operated from Amsterdam CS to Buiksloterweg in

Amsterdam-Noord Amsterdam-Noord (; ) is a Boroughs of Amsterdam, borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands with a population of about 90,000. The IJ (Amsterdam), IJ, the body of water which separates it from Amsterdam-Centrum and the rest of the city, is situated southwes ...

(now route NH25) between 1963 and 1996. As ''Sound of Sanda'', she operated

Clyde service between McInroy's Point (

) and Hunters Quay (

) until 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loch Scavaig Ferries of Scotland Ferries of the Netherlands 1963 ships Ships built in Germany