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MV ''Isle of Lewis'' ((スコットランド・ゲール語:Eilean Leòdhais)) is a Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited-owned ferry operated between Ullapool and Stornoway by Caledonian MacBrayne. She is currently one of only two ships over in length in the CalMac fleet, with the other (her successor on the route ) being longer by 14.75 metres. Although largely based on the Stornoway to Ullapool route throughout her active career, ''Isle of Lewis'' has also seen occasional service on the Uig, Lochmaddy & Tarbert triangular service, as well as between Oban and Castlebay - both in response to disruptions or emergencies. She has not served any other route to date. ==History== MV ''Isle of Lewis'' was built by Ferguson Shipbuilders in Port Glasgow on the Clyde and entered service in July 1995. At present she is the largest ship ever built by Ferguson's. Her crossing time of around 2 hours and 45 minutes improved upon that of her predecessor, , by at least 45 minutes. With ever increasing traffic on the crossing, there was speculation that MV ''Isle of Lewis'' might be replaced by a larger vessel. In September 2013 the freight vessel was chartered to relieve pressure on the route. On 10 June 2012, it was announced that a new £42 million replacement ferry was to be built in Germany. The new 116 metre long ROPAX ferry was named and is capable of continuous operation, with a capacity for up to 700 passengers, and 143 cars or 20 commercial vehicles. ''Loch Seaforth'' entered service in mid-February 2015 and took over both passenger and freight duties on the route. At present ''Isle of Lewis'' remains based at Stornoway in reserve, and provided a twice-weekly return service for nine weekends in the summer of 2015 to assist ''Loch Seaforth'' with heavy demand. In June 2015, in order to assess where her long-term deployment might bring her, MV ''Isle of Lewis'' undertook a tour of major terminals for berthing trials, with varied results. She called at Lochmaddy, Castlebay, Oban, Craignure, Brodick, Ardrossan, Troon, Campbeltown, and Tarbert between 4 and 9 June. CalMac has since stated that no decision as to her future employment has been made. Major work would be required to her stern ramp, to have it off-set to starboard instead of port, in order for her to work on routes such as Mull and Arran. These adjustments would have no potential impact on her returning to Stornoway for relief work, as both Stornoway and Ullapool harbours now possess full-width linkspans. In September 2015, it was announced that ''Isle of Lewis'' will take on the role of Oban-Castlebay vessel (commencing summer timetable 2016) thus allowing MV ''Lord of the Isles'' to commence daily return sailings between Lochboisdale and Mallaig. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「MV Isle of Lewis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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