‘Freight plus’ ship designs take shape

January 26, 2023 at 3:20 pm

Preliminary designs detail how two new “freight plus” vessels serving the Northern Isles might look. (Leadship)

Two new state-of-the-art freight vessels linking Orkney and Shetland with the Scottish mainland could cost up to £70million each, and be in service in around four years time.

The two sister vessels under consideration are augmented versions of a ro-ro ship dubbed “freight plus”.

The first designs of the purpose-built ferries have been published by maritime architects Leadship, on behalf of Scottish Government-owned shipowner Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL).

This work has been in collaboration with Serco NorthLink Ferries and Transport Scotland.