Yard number 529 Capacity 6 cars Beam 6.58 m | Status in service Length 18 m | |
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Owner Isle of Skye Ferry Community Interest Company Builder Ailsa Shipbuilding Company | ||
Skye ferry mv glenachulish
MV Glenachulish is a ferry operating a summer service between Glenelg and Kylerhea, on the Isle of Skye. Built in 1969, she is the last manually operated turntable ferry in the world.
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Mv glenachulish the last surviving manually operated turntable ferry
History
Glenachulish was built at Ailsa Shipbuilding Company in Troon in 1969. She is named after Glenachulish, a glen and hamlet near South Ballachulish.
In 2006, Murdo Mackenzie, the owner of the ferry, was planning to retire. A community interest company was formed by local residents to buy the ferry and run the service.
In January 2012, following a landslide blocking the A890 road, Glenachulish began a service at Stromeferry. The service crossed Loch Carron to North Strome, avoiding a 140 miles (230 km) diversion by road.
Service
From 1969 to 1975, Glenachulish operated at Ballachulish. After the opening of the Ballachulish Bridge, she became the relief ferry at Corran, Kessock and Kylesku. The latter two routes have since been replaced with bridges.
Since 1982, Glenachulish has operated the Glenelg ferry across Kylerhea narrows between Easter and October each year. The 550 m crossing takes only 5 minutes and is the shortest sea crossing to Skye. There has been a ferry on this route for over 400 years, with a car ferry since 1934. It is one of only two remaining ferries to Skye from the mainland - the other is the Caledonian MacBrayne service between Mallaig and Armadale.