£50m UK funding bid considered for new Corran ferry

Highland Council hopes to have its main vessel, MV Corran, back in service next month

Highland Council has proposed making a bid for up to £50m of UK government funding to pay for a new ferry for its lifeline Corran Ferry service.

There has not been a vehicle ferry on the short crossing of Loch Linnhe for a month.

The main vessel, MV Corran, has been out of action since January and the relief boat, MV Maid of Glencoul, suffered a breakdown at Easter.

Only passenger services have been available since.

Highland Council said it hoped to have MV Corran back in service at the beginning of next month following repairs to a propulsion unit. The fault was found during a routine refit.

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Longer-term, the local authority is seeking councillors' approval to make a bid for UK government Levelling Up funds to pay for a new 32-vehicle electric ferry and upgraded on-shore infrastructure.

The plan is set out in a report to next week's meeting of the full council.

The local authority said it was still in discussions with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) about the use of a military vessel until MV Corran returns to service. The idea of MoD assistance was suggested three weeks ago.

But in their report, council officials said that, based on an initial assessment, the military option would be limited on how many passengers could be carried, and would only be able to operate for two hours either side of high tide.

The service's relief boat, MV Maid of Glentoul, broke down at Easter

The local authority has so far spent almost £500,000 on covering the costs of the temporary passenger services and making improvements to roads to ease ferry traffic congestion.

The figure includes £17,000 on an unsuccessful trial of a privately-owned landing craft.

Other details in the report to next week's meeting include a worldwide search for second-hand ferries.

Officials said it had not been possible to source any alternative ferries on the international market suitable for the route.

They also said a fixed link crossing of the Corran Narrows - either a bridge or a tunnel - remained to be a long-term aspiration.

The Corran Ferry service is the busiest single-vessel operated route in Scotland, carrying more than 270,000 cars each year.

The route involves 30,000 sailings from early morning to late in the evening, 363 days of the year.

People living in Fort William, Ardgour, Sunart, Ardnamurchan, Moidart, Morar, Morvern and the Isle of Mull, as well as tourists, are among those who regularly use the ferry.

When the service is unavailable due to bad weather or breakdowns it is a 42-mile detour to get from Corran to Ardgour, but diversions can involve journeys of up to 86 miles, depending on where people are heading.