Cromarty Rose

MV Cromarty Rose arriving at Nigg
History
United Kingdom
Name	Cromarty Rose
Owner	Seaboard Marine (Nigg) Ltd since 2001: Cromarty Ferry Company
Route	1987-2009 summers: Nigg - Cromarty
Builder	MacCrindle Shipbuilding Ltd, Ardrossan Engines: Ford/Lansing Marine, Dagenham [1]
Yard number	439
Launched	1986
Identification	MMSI 235076973
Status	in service
General characteristics
Class & type	ro-ro vehicle ferry
Tonnage	28  GT; 11  NT
Length	43 ft (13 m)
Beam	19.7 ft (6.0 m)
Decks	1
Ramps	bow
Installed power	Twin diesels 2 × M6cy 254bhp
Propulsion	2scr
Speed	8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph)
Capacity	50 passengers; 2 cars
Crew	2

MV Cromarty Rose was the vehicle ferry serving the Nigg-Cromarty route across the Cromarty Firth, providing a summer only service from 1987 to 2009.

History

MV Cromarty Rose was one of the smallest car ferries in the UK, ^[2] and the only ferry serving the Black Isle, crossing the Cromarty Firth between Nigg and Cromarty. She is a 50-passenger, 2 car vessel built in 1987 in Ardrossan, Scotland for Seaboard Marine (Nigg) Ltd who operated the Cromarty-Nigg service until 2001. After a tendering process, the contract passed to the Cromarty Ferry Company, who purchased the Cromarty Rose from her previous owners. ^[1]

Service

Built for the Cromarty service, Cromarty Rose operated there from 1987 to 2009. Evening cruises were available for parties of between 10 and 50. ^[3]

Cromarty Rose became the world's smallest drive-in floating cinema in November 2008, with a showing of The Maggie , to launch the Cromarty Film Festival. ^[4]

In February 2010, Southampton Marine Services announced that they had won a £500,000 contract to build a new ferry for the Cromarty-Nigg service. ^[5] and Cromarty Rose sailed from Cromarty on 16 February 2010, bound for the Bristol Channel, to run a service to the island of Steep Holm and Flat Holm . She was renamed Westward Ho by her current owner. She is operated by MW Marine.

The replacement vessel, Cromarty Queen , arrived in Cromarty on 10 October 2010, and commenced the summer service in 2011.

References

1. "Cromarty Rose". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
2. "Cromarty Ferry". Cromarty Ferry. 18 October 2009.
3. "Evening Cruises". Cromarty Ferry. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
4. "World's smallest drive-in (floating) cinema". Cromarty Film Festival. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
5. "New Cromarty ferry to be built by SMS". This is Hampshire. Retrieved 21 February 2010.

External links

• Cromarty Ferry Company website
• MW Marine website