Isle of Mull in Oban, 3 June 2016

As you may or may not have noticed, I have photographed very few cruise ship in Helsinki (or anywhere else for that matter) this year. What I do have is a bunch of ferry photos, from the local waters as well as Helsingborg and Scotland. To maintain some variation, I'm trying to keep up a system where photos from one of the three sets come up in turn. And this week, it's time for Scotland again.

Isle of Mull

IMO 8608339
Built 1988, Appledore Ferguson Glasgow, United Kingdom
Tonnage 4 719 GT
Length 90,03 m
Width 15,80 m
Draugth 3,20 m
951 passengers
70 cars
2 Mirrlees diesels, combined 3 096 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 15 knots

The Isle of Mull was built in 1988 by the Appledore Ferguson shipyard in Glawgow for the Oban-Craignure -run. Already before it was delivered, the ship had been discovered to have a serious deadweight problem, and therefore could not meet the required cargo capacity. Never the less, the Isle of Mull entered service on the route to Mull as planned in April 1988. After the summer season, the ship sailed to a drydock at Middlerough on the Tees for the addition of a 5,4 metre midsection, which fixed the deadweight problem. The chop-and-stretch operation was, naturally, carried out at the builders' expense.

Since its delivery, the Isle of Mull has generally remained on the same route, excepting occasional coverings on other routes during docking periods, and occasional sailing from Oban to Colonsay interspersed with the Graignure sailings.

The photographs below show the Isle of Mull departing from Oban to Craignure on the evening of 3 June 2016, photographed from Oban North Pier. As per the usual, click on the images to see them in larger size.

At the Oban ferry terminal.

The Britons do like their ferries bulky.

Isle of Mull departs, while its smaller fleetmate Loch Striven stays behind. And yes, this photo does have some added candy.

Sailing into the sunset.

More candy.

Yum yum.

Next time: Mercandia IV seem to be the next in the lineup.