MV Loch Awe
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Loch Awe |
| Namesake | Loch Awe |
| Owner | Caledonian Maritime Assets (CMAL) |
| Operator | Caledonian MacBrayne |
| Port of registry |  Glasgow |
| Route | TBC |
| Ordered | March 2025 |
| Builder | Remontowa Shipbuilding, Gdańsk, Poland |
| Yard number | B621/1[1] |
| Laid down | December 2025[2] |
| Status | Under construction |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ro-ro vehicle and passenger ferry |
| Tonnage | 135 dt[3] |
| Length | 49.90 m (163 ft 9 in)[1] |
| Beam | 12.48 m (40 ft 11 in)[1] |
| Draught | 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in)[1] |
| Installed power | 750 kW[4] |
| Propulsion | 4-off 187 kW azimuth thrusters[1] |
| Speed | 9 kn (17 km/h)[1] |
| Capacity | |
| Crew | 5[1] |
MV Loch Awe (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Obha) is a roll-on/roll-off vehicle and passenger ferry currently under construction in Poland for use on Caledonian MacBrayne routes on the west coast of Scotland. She is the first of the seven vessels comprising Phase 1 of Caledonian Maritime Assets' small vessel replacement project (SVRP), which will replace the existing ferries serving seven Caledonian MacBrayne routes.[5] She is designed to be predominantly electrically powered, though may require to be run on diesel until shore power can be fully set up.[6]
Planning for the small vessel replacement project began in 2021,[5] and in March 2025 Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) awarded a contract to build seven vessels to Remontowa Shipbuilding of Gdańsk in Poland, the same shipyard that built MVs Argyle, Bute and Finlaggan.[7][6] The first steel was cut for the first of the vessels in September 2025.[8] The vessel's keel was laid in December, at which point CMAL announced that she would be named Loch Awe.[2] Other vessels in the class will also be named after Scottish lochs, with the seven names to be used selected following a public vote.[9] Delivery is currently expected in 2027.[7]