MV Loch Striven is a Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited owns the ferries, ports, harbours and infrastructure for the ferry services serving the west coast of Scotland and the Clyde Estuary.CMAL is wholly owned by the Scottish Government, with Scottish Ministers as sole shareholders.-History:Until...

 ro-ro car ferry, built in 1986 and currently operated by Caledonian MacBrayne

Caledonian MacBrayne

Caledonian MacBrayne is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries, and ferry services, between the mainland of Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland's west coast...

. After over ten years at Largs

Largs

Largs is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" in Scottish Gaelic....

, she has served the island of Raasay

Raasay

Raasay is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound. It is most famous for being the birthplace of the poet Sorley MacLean, an important figure in the Scottish literary renaissance...

 since 1997.

History

MV Loch Striven was the first of four drive-through ferries built in the 1980s by Dunston’s of Hessle

Richard Dunston (shipbuilder)

Richard Dunston was a shipbuilder on the Humber. The company started building wooden barges miles from the sea and evolved to pioneer fully welded steel ships of a single design...

, to cope with increasing traffic on CalMac's smaller routes.

Layout

The four vessels are based on the design of . They have a second passenger lounge, on the port side, reducing the capacity of the car deck to 12. The wheelhouse is painted red and given a black top, as she has no funnels as such.

Service

MV Loch Striven joined on the Largs

Largs

Largs is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" in Scottish Gaelic....

 – Great Cumbrae

Great Cumbrae

Great Cumbrae is the larger of the two islands known as The Cumbraes in the lower Firth of Clyde in western Scotland...

 crossing in July 1986. After one month, replaced Isle of Cumbrae. The two new vessels continued at Largs for over ten years. In 1997, Loch Striven moved to Raasay

Raasay

Raasay is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound. It is most famous for being the birthplace of the poet Sorley MacLean, an important figure in the Scottish literary renaissance...

, replacing the Island Class ferry, , where she has remained since.