Following the disastrous start to the career of the CORUISK, it was wisely decided by CalMac that the third generation of Clyde ferries would be much more conventional  in their design. The drawings for the new ship were unveiled at a series of public meetings held in Rothesay and on the mainland, near to where she would be sailing. There was general acceptance of the proposed design, certainly in that she looked like a ship and not something akin to a Lego brick model!

There was a great deal of anger at European interference when it came to sorting out the contract for who was actually going to build the ship. Fergusons of Port Glasgow, who have done a superb job on so many previous newbuilds, were denied the contract for the new ferry and this instead went to a foreign yard – the first time a new ferry had been ordered from outside the UK. There was local disgust with the MSP responsible and widespread criticism of CalMac for not supporting the local yard. The reason cited for the decision was interference in the tendering process from Brussells, but this did not prevent certain parties from condemning the decision and making claims of illegal subsidies in favour of the winning yard.

The passenger accommodation was to be located on two levels, the first comprising a lounge towards the bow, a kiosk area and toilets and a further lounge area further aft, while the second level was a totally open deck space which led from the twin funnels to just forward of the bridge, which sat on its own perch above the open deck. 

Early in 2005 it was announced that the new ship was to be named BUTE, carrying on a long tradition of Clyde vessels using the name. The previous vessel to carry the name had of course been the last of the ‘ABC’ ferries of 1954. BUTE was launched sideways from the slipway at Gdansk in March of 2005, with the launch being filmed and made available on CalMac’s website for those who were not permitted tickets to attend the event. The launch was very different to one that would occur here in the UK. For a start, the ferry was nowhere near complete and was launched as a dark red hull with the word ‘Bute’ painted in white capital letters at the bow. Her windows had been cut out but that was about it. Her bridge level, funnels and mast were completely missing and the yard had not even painted what was there in CalMac colours. In previous launches in the UK, such as ISLE OF MULL, CLANSMAN and even the Loch Class, the majority of the vessel was painted externally before taking to the water and at least resembled a ship!

Off Wemyss Bay with Juno

On her VIP cruise, prior to entering service

BUTE’S first passenger sailing was a special VIP cruise from Rothesay to Cumbrae, which she sailed round before heading back over to Bute. For the first part of this cruise she was accompanied by a Royal Navy helicopter and an inshore lifeboat. Watched from ashore and from other vessels in the area, BUTE showed her speed well on this public showing-off session and after the official naming ceremony in Rothesay Bay, she finally entered service.

It was soon the case that the Streaker had to take the main roster in an attempt to minimise the number of missed connections, as BUTE just couldn’t keep to time. When the winter timetable commenced, and the CORUISK came down to join in the fun, BUTE was slowly improving but there was still a long way to go. She suffered several technical problems during her first season and had to be taken out of service at one point for engine problems. There had been suggestions from several sources that the engines fitted were not suited to the size of her propellers and that one engine had all but burnt out as a result, although the speculation died down when she returned to service.

Seen from her 2006 service partner Juno

Arriving at Rothesay with Cowal behind

Her first overhaul was paid for by the Gdansk shipyard as part of her guarantee. During this time her main mast was heightened so that it was about the same height as that atop her bridge. Apart from that, there was little work to be done and her overhaul lasted less than two weeks. She returned to service and spent the remainder of the winter partnering CORUISK until she had to return to Mallaig in time for the summer timetable

Throughout the 2006 summer season, BUTE was partnered by JUNO continuously as opposed to the previous summer when the JUNO and JUPITER switched weekly. There were several instances when she would be left to run the Wemyss Bay – Rothesay route on her own following JUNO being struck down by various bouts of mechanical problems for the odd full or half day here and there.

At the time of BUTE’S entry into service, CalMac announced that the second new Rothesay ferry was also to be built in Poland; the Remontowa yard having won the contract. It was actually rumoured that this had been pre-arranged and that the yard had already gone so far as to order the steel for the second new ship…! Whether this is true, we’ll probably never know but there are those on the Clyde who believe it. The new ship was to be called ARGYLE and she was due for launch during summer 2006. Originally the company were advertising ARGYLE introduction for summer or early autumn 2006 but as the months progressed, this was pushed back to early 2007 (still, better late than never!)