MV Raasay is a bow-loading passenger and vehicle ferry owned by 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...

 and 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...

, serving 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...

 until 2001, and now a spare vessel.

History

Built in Port Glasgow, Raasay was the eighth and last Island Class ferry. On replacing at 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...

, she became the third ferry there in two years.

MV Raasay was one of the first CMAL ships to receive its Inventory of Hazardous Materials or "Green Passport". She has appeared on several TV programmes, including Balamory

Balamory

Balamory was a live action television series on British television for pre-school children, based around the fictional small island community of Balamory in Scotland. It was produced between 2002 and 2005 by BBC Scotland, with 254 episodes made...

, Distant Shores and on a Peugeot

Peugeot

Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

 TV advert.

Service

MV Raasay was built for the crossing between Sconser

Sconser

Sconser is a small crofting township on the island of Skye, in Scotland, situated on the south shore of Loch Sligachan. The main A87 road of Skye passes through Sconser and the ferry to Raasay departs from the pier....

 on the Isle of Skye, and the nearby 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...

, where she remained for two decades. She never missed a full day's sailings on that route, only leaving at Raasay for her own overhaul, when she was relieved by one of her older sisters. She also took some charters to Rona

South Rona

Rona , sometimes called South Rona to distinguish it from North Rona, is a small island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, north of Raasay and northeast of Skye. It has a total area of .-Geography and geology:...

.

In summer 1997, to handle increasing traffic, she was replaced by the larger and became a spare ferry. Lying at Oban

Oban

Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...

 or Tobermory, she occasionally relieved and . More recently she has relieved on the Small Isles

Small Isles

The Small Isles are a small archipelago of islands in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. They lie south of Skye and north of Mull and Ardnamurchan – the most westerly point of mainland Scotland.The four main islands are Canna, Rùm, Eigg and Muck...

 run and at Ballycastle

Ballycastle, County Antrim

Ballycastle is a small town in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Its population was 5,089 people in the 2001 Census. It is the seat and main settlement of Moyle District Council....

.