MV Fingal sailing in the Hebrides
History
United Kingdom
NameFingal
OwnerNorthern Lighthouse Board
Port of registryLeith
BuilderBlythswood Shipbuilding Company, Glasgow
Launched8 August 1963
IdentificationIMO 5419957
FateSold to Tamahine Investments in 2000
History
NameWindsor Castle
OwnerTamahine Investments
FateSold to the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust in 2014
History
NameFingal
OwnerThe Royal Yacht Britannia Trust
OperatorRoyal Yacht Enterprises
Statusin service as a luxury hotel
General characteristics
Class and typeTwin Screw Motorship
Tonnage1,342 gross tons
Length238.9 ft (72.8 m)
Beam40.3 ft (12.3 m)
Depth18.5 ft (5.6 m)
Propulsion2 x British Polar 2 Stoke 6-Cyl Diesel Engines

The MV Fingal is a former Northern Lighthouse Board ship converted into a boutique hotel. The Fingal is permanently berthed near to the former Royal Yacht Britannia as part of a major tourist attraction in Edinburgh, Scotland.[1][2][3]

History

The MV Fingal was built by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company in Glasgow, Scotland for the Northern Lighthouse Board. Launched in 1963, she was stationed for thirty years in Oban and then for six years in Stromness as a maintenance and supply vessel for lighthouses and buoys. The Fingal was retired from Northern Lighthouse Board service in the year 2000.[1][2][4][5]

Following her retirement from the Northern Lighthouse Board, the Fingal was sold to Hong Kong based Tamahine Investments, who renamed her Windsor Castle. The ship was maintained in working order for the next 14 years while moored on the River Fal in Cornwall.[1][5]

In 2014, the Windsor Castle was acquired by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust who restored her original name.[1][2]

MV Fingal painted in a dazzle pattern designed by the artist Ciara Phillips as part of the commemorations marking 100 years since the battle of Jutland
MV Fingal painted in a dazzle pattern, 2016

In 2016, the MV Fingal was painted in a dazzle pattern named "Every Woman" designed by the artist Ciara Phillips as part of commemorations marking 100 years since the battle of Jutland. The pattern used was a contemporary reimagining of dazzle camouflage specifically created to recognize the role of British women during World War I.[6]

Luxury Hotel

The Fingal's Engine Room folloing refit as hotel with the orignal engines behind glass on either side of hotel corridor
MV Fingal's engine room following the ships conversion into a luxury hotel

In 2019, following extensive modifications and refurbishment, the Fingal was formally opened as a luxury floating hotel berthed in the Albert Dock Basin close to the former Royal Yacht Britannia at Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh.[1][2]

In 2022 the AA awarded the Fingal its top five-star rating along with two AA Rosettes for its onboard restaurant, the Lighthouse.[7] The AA praised the Lighthouse restaurant as “exceptional” and named the Fingal as one of the 25 best Hotels in the United Kingdom.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "About The Ship | Luxury Floating Hotel Fingal Edinburgh". www.fingal.co.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d "Name MV Fingal | National Historic Ships". www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk.
  3. ^ Flockhart, Gary (16 May 2022). "Edinburgh's luxury floating hotel, Fingal, voted one of the UK's best at TripAdvisor awards". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  4. ^ Ocana, Noemi. "Our ships". Northern Lighthouse Board.
  5. ^ a b Rooney, Richard (12 August 2014). "New luxury life set for old lighthouse boat". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  6. ^ Fullerton, Elizabeth (1 June 2016). "A contemporary dazzle ship docks in Leith". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  7. ^ Ritchie, Gayle (29 April 2023). "How Scotland's only 'luxury floating hotel' once served the country's lighthouse keepers". The Courier. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  8. ^ Smail, Alexander (10 November 2022). "Scotland's 'only luxury floating hotel' crowned one of the best in the UK". Daily Record. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
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