Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) intends to award the contract to build two new ferries to the Cemre Marin Endustri A.S shipyard in Turkey, following a 10 day standstill period, according to CMAL's release.
In October 2022, The Scottish Government prioritised additional funding to enable CMAL to accelerate plans for replacement vessels.
The two new vessels will be built to the same specification as the existing ferries under construction at Cemre for Islay. This will speed up the replacement of the major vessel fleet and provide a more standardised vessel type that can be used on a variety of different routes.