On Tuesday, 16 December 2025, Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A., part of the Remontowa Holding capital group, held a ceremony to lay the keel of a modern passenger-car ferry, B621/1 and to cut the first steel for the ferry B621/2. These are the first two of seven ferries ordered by the Scottish shipowner Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL).
The ferries are being built as part of the Small Vessel Replacement Programme, which aims to replace ageing vessels operating on the west coast of Scotland and improve maritime transport quality.
The new ferries will be equipped with four azimuth thrusters powered during normal operation by lithium-ion batteries with a capacity of approximately 5.7 MWh, enabling them to operate in electric mode throughout the day. This solution will significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and noise, improve travel comfort, and contribute to global efforts to decarbonise maritime transport.
The ferries will operate between the picturesque Scottish islands of the Hebrides archipelago. They will carry 150 passengers and 24 cars at a time.
The vessels are based on a design prepared in cooperation between the Norwegian design office LMG Marin and the Remontowa Marine Design & Consulting team, part of the Remontowa Holding Group. They will meet the most stringent environmental standards, including Lloyd’s Register ECO notation.
The first ferry, for which the keel has just been laid, is to be delivered to the shipowner in the third quarter of 2027, and three months later, another vessel, the construction of which began yesterday, is scheduled to be handed over.
These will not be the first vessels built at our shipyard for this shipowner. Between 2005 and 2011, we delivered three ferries designed to carry passengers and vehicles between Glasgow and other major cities on the west coast of Scotland, as well as the islands of the Western Hebrides archipelago.