Arran's new ferry finally has a name - with a public vote deciding the troubled vessel known as Hull 802 will now become the MV Glen Rosa.

The vessel, along with MV Glen Sannox, is currently under construction in Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow), and both ferries will play a vital role in providing a fully flexible year-round service for Arran.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) today announced the result of the public vote, which saw nearly 5,000 entries.

Some 4,844 votes were cast in the competition on CMAL’s website, which ran for three weeks.

MV Glen Rosa, which will be known as Gleann Ruasaidh in Gaelic, was the most popular name, garnering 52 per cent of the votes.

It's not the first Glen Rosa to cover the Arran route. The paddle steamer Glen Rosa, which launched in 1893 for the Glasgow and South Western Railway, operated on the Clyde for years before serving in WWI and finally bering scrapped in 1939.

Following the recent delay announced by Ferguson Marine, the new MV Glen Rosa is now due to launch in March 2024.

Kevin Hobbs, chief executive of CMAL, said: “The public’s response to the naming of Hull 802 has been fantastic to see, and I’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to vote.

“Though we are disappointed in the delay to launching the vessel reported by Fergusons last week, we understand that the priority is ensuring that the newly named MV Glen Rosa achieves Maritime and Coastguard (MCA) approval. We continue to work closely with the team at Ferguson Marine and can see great progress being made towards the delivery of both MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa.”

Robbie Drummond, chief executive of CalMac, said: “We are very much looking forward to MV Glen Rosa and MV Glen Sannox joining our fleet. These vessels will provide much-needed resilience to the Arran community, and to the network as a whole.”

MV Glen Rosa will be one of six new major vessels due to join the CMAL fleet before the end of 2025, following a commitment of £695m from the Scottish Government for the years 2021- 2026.

The 102-metre dual fuel ferries will be able to operate on both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and marine diesel. LNG is significantly cleaner and has been adopted by ferry operators in Northern Europe in response to tighter emissions regulations.

The ships are designed to carry 127 cars or 16 HGVs, or a combination of both.