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A project to build a new Mersey ferry in more than 60 years has been announced by the Mayor of Liverpool City Region.

The Mayor, Steve Rotheram said that the multi-million pound project will "ensure that the iconic 'Ferry Cross the Mersey' will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come."

According to ITV News, the new ferry is expected to be constructed at the historic Cammell Laird shipyard located in Birkenhead, opposite of Liverpool's famous Three Graces waterfront which includes the former Cunard Line building. 

The work at the shipyard on the Wirral Peninsula would support jobs, apprenticeships and development opportunities for the region in north-west England.

Steve Rotheram said: "The Mersey Ferries are not only a vital transport link between communities in the Liverpool City Region, they're also an important part of our identity.

"But, as the current vessels are older than the Gerry and the Pacemakers song that helped make them world famous, they are becoming harder and harder to maintain and definitely in need of an upgrade.

"There have been boats crossings the Mersey since the 12th century and, thanks to our investment, here they’ll stay…"

Following a consultation process in 2018, feedback received has led to a design which will provide passengers with greater comfort and improved accessibility so to enhance the overall experience on the service operated by MerseyTravel.

More here on the ferry service which Afloat adds is currently served by the Cammell Laird's 1960 built Royal Iris of the Mersey (see ex Mountwood's Dun Laoghaire role) which runs the commuter service in addition to River Explorer Cruises.

Another veteran ferry, the Snowdop (known as the Dazzle ferry) is out of service. The former Woodchurch also from the shipyard in Birkenhead, in more recent years was repainted in an eye-catching design in honour of the 'camouflage dazzle' patterns that were first used on vessels in World War One.

Published in Shipyards

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.