MV ''Loch Sunart'' (ex-''Gemeente Pont 23'' then ''Sound of Scalpay'') was a car and passenger ferry, originally operated in Amsterdam, and then 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 ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

until October 2013. In 2018, ''Loch Sunart'' was converted into an ROV support vessel and is now owned by Caldive.

History

'' Gemeente Pont 23'' was built in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

, Netherlands in 1962, for Amsterdam City Council. In the mid 1990s, she and her near sister ''Gemeente Pont 24'' were purchased by Western Ferries for service on the Clyde. They were 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 ...

and renamed ''Sound of Scalpay'' and ''Sound of Sanda'' before entering service at McInroy's Point. On the acquisition of two brand new ferries in October 2013, ''Scalpay'' and ''Sound of Sanda'' 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. ''Scalpay'' was converted into an ROV support vessel and renamed ''Loch Sunart''. In October 2018, The Underwater Centre ceased trading and entered administration. ''Loch Sunart'' was purchased at auction by Caldive of Invergordon at the start of 2019 and laid up with her sister ship ''Loch Scavaig'' at Fort William.

Layout

''Sound of Scalpay'' 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 23'' 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 1962 and 1994. In July 1995, as ''Sound of Scalpay'', she entered service on

Clyde service between McInroy's Point (

) and Hunters Quay (

), replacing the former Sealink ferry ''Sound of Seil''. ''Scalpay'' and ''Sanda'' operated this service until 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loch Sunart Ferries of Scotland 1962 ships Ships built in the Netherlands Ferries of the Netherlands