History
MV Argyll Flyer arriving at Gourock, freshly painted in CalMac livery.
United Kingdom
Name	MV Argyll Flyer
Owner	Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited
Operator	Caledonian MacBrayne
Port of registry	Glasgow
Route	Dunoon to Gourock
Builder	OCEA, Les Sables-d'Olonne, France
Completed	2001
Acquired	June 2011
Identification	IMO number: 9231016^[1] Callsign: 2ERS2 MMSI number: 235087611
Status	in service
General characteristics
Tonnage	172 gt^[2]
Length	30 m (98 ft 5 in)
Beam	7 m (23 ft 0 in)
Draft	2.0 m (6 ft 7 in)
Decks	2
Installed power	Two MTU 12V 2000 M70^[3]
Speed	Max. 22 knots (25 mph; 41 km/h)
Capacity	244 passengers
Crew	3

MV Argyll Flyer is a passenger ferry in the Caledonian MacBrayne fleet, which along with MV Ali Cat provides a service in Scotland, across the Firth of Clyde from Dunoon to Gourock pierhead and railway station.

History

MV *Argyll Flyer* approaching Gourock pier in 2011, in Argyll Ferries livery.

She was constructed by OCEA, Les Sables-d'Olonne, France in 2001 for Inishmore Ferries, and under the name "Queen of Aran II" in 2004 she was sold to Aran Island Ferries following the closure of Inismore Ferries and in 2007 renamed Banríon Chonamara (Queen of Connemara) provided a service to the Aran Islands in Ireland. In May 2011 the David MacBrayne Ltd subsidiary Argyll Ferries Ltd was announced as the preferred bidder for the tender for the Dunoon–Gourock service; they bought the ferry which was renamed Argyll Flyer for the new service commencing 30 June 2011. On 15 June she arrived at the Ardmaleish boatyard on the Isle of Bute for survey work.^[4]

Layout

Argyll Flyer is a monohull boat of aluminium construction. She has capacity for 244 passengers on two decks with on-board facilities including a wheelchair lift and accessible toilets. There is no booking office at Gourock Ferry Terminal; passengers pay on board.

Service

Argyll Flyer's entry into service was delayed by broken rear prop shafts.^[5]

Once the service was in full operation, people from Dunoon were able to return later in the evening from Glasgow than previously thanks to the extended timetable.

At the end of 2018, Transport Scotland made the decision to incorporate the Argyll Ferries service into the existing Caledonian MacBrayne Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract. The transition took place on 21 January 2019 without any immediate changes to the service,^[6] Argyll Flyer had its livery changed to CalMac branding in May 2019.