Burness Corlett
A new ferry for Strangford
Strangford II ushers in a new era for historic lifeline ferry link. An historic ferry link. The Strangford Lough Ferry across “The Narrows” between Strangford and Portaferry has existed in one form or another without a break for over 4 centuries, since the time of James I. Records even exist showing that a ferry across Strangford Lough existed as far back as the 1180’s. The current service makes the 0.6nm crossing in around 8 minutes, a significant saving in time from the alternative 47 mile trip by road taking around 90 minutes. A first for Ireland The ferry between Strangford and Portaferry holds the distinction of having the first steam powered ferry in the whole of Ireland, the paddle steamer Lady of the Lake, as far back as 1836. This was some 36 years before Belfast got its first steam powered ferry. Lady of the lake was a paddle steamer built by Alexander McLaine in Belfast and launched ... Read more
Vessel Profile: MV CANNA
Canna Introduction CANNA was the 7th of 8 island class vehicle and passenger ferries built to operate lifeline services to the Hebrides for Caledonian MacBrayne. The island class design was by Burness Corlett, and based on that of a military landing craft. The vessels are notable for lowering their ramps whilst still approaching the slipway. This is to avoid grounding the shallow-draughted vessel and is possible due to the 2-stage folding action of the ramp itself. When the ramp is deployed only the rearmost section lowers until it contacts the slipway. The front section of the ramp then unfolds allowing vehicles and passengers to disembark. Prior to entering service between Ballycastle and Rathlin Island, CANNA had a varied career in Scottish waters. She replaced her sister ship BRUERNISH on the Rathlin Island route in April 1997. In 2017 CANNA was replaced by the purpose-built SPIRIT OF RATHLIN after almost 20 years of unbroken service ... Read more
STRANGFORD (Vessel Profile)
MV STRANGFORD (also known as STRANGFORD FERRY, as that was the name she had painted on her hull) was the smaller of the 2 vehicle carrying vessels operating on the link across Strangford Lough between Strangford and Portaferry until the end of 2016. Until the entry into service of the PORTAFERRY II, STRANGFORD FERRY was the main vessel on the route, having launched the vehicle ferry service in 1969. Following PORTAFERRY II‘s arrival her role changed to provide extra capacity on the service during the summer and to cover maintenance on the larger PORTAFERRY II. STRANGFORD FERRY was originally built for Down County Council in 1969, and was earmarked as far back as 2009 for replacement in 2016, by which stage she was operational for some 47 years. Life extension and replacement In order to extend her life until 2016 STRANGFORD FERRY received new vehicle ramps and a full repaint following sand blasting during a dry docking at Harland and Wolff in 2011. Despite ... Read more