Cammell Laird reveals plans for a RoPax ferry design

British shipyard Cammell Laird has plans to expand into the ferry market with a new design of a RoPax ferry, as the company revealed at Nor-Shipping. Cammell Laird is working on the design now with an international design house ahead of the formal launch in (löschen) planned for later this year.
Cammell Laird hopes its new environmentally friendly design will prove attractive to the ferry market which it regards as having a small level of design choice. “Our new RoPax design will be in the segment of the market where there will be a lot of demand for the next decade,” a yard’s spokesperson said. “From our discussions with various owners we have seen real interest in our design that thrusts environmental innovation, fuel efficiency and comfort to the forefront of the future ferry market.”
The global ferry fleet is aging and in need of replacing while ferry building supply, certainly at a sophisticated level, is stretched in Europe in terms of spare capacity, the yard said. Cammell Laird has recently built ferries for customers Red Funnel and Western Ferries. "Cammell Laird can further demonstrate its expertise through the drydocking and repairs we undertake for many ferries each year for a wide variety of customers including Stena, P & O, Seatruck Ferries, Irish Ferries, Mersey Ferries, Calmac and the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. We know the ferry market extremely well and believe it is ripe for a genuinely attractive new vessel design offering the most modern features,” Cammell Laird’s project director Andy Askham said.