First new Mersey ferry in 60 years to be launched

The first new Mersey Ferry to be built in 60 years will be officially launched in Liverpool later.

The £26m Royal Daffodil has been made by Birkenhead-based shipbuilder Cammell Laird for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Mayor Steve Rotheram told BBC Breakfast the ferry was "the last piece in the jigsaw" in his city region's public transport overhaul.

Actor and singer Claire Sweeney said it was "one of the greatest honours" of her career to have be asked to host the Pier Head launch ceremony.

It will involve the traditional blessing, bottle breaking, flares and confetti.

The Royal Daffodil's maiden sailing will be on Saturday.

Ferries have been travelling across the Mersey for more than 800 years.

Benedictine monks ran the first regular ferry from Birkenhead to Liverpool, rowing across the river on market days.

The new vessel includes an accessible lift, cycle parking, baby changing facilities and USB charging points.

Attending the ceremony, Maritime Minister Keir Mather said: "Gerry and the Pacemakers made the Mersey Ferry famous around the world, generations of dockyard workers made it part of Liverpool's story, and today the Liverpool City Region is writing the next chapter."

He said it was "a new era for one of Britain's most iconic services, connecting communities, boosting tourism and keeping the Mersey's proud maritime story sailing on for generations to come".

Liverpool City Council leader Liam Robinson said the new ferry was "a symbol of our continued ambition to invest in Liverpool's waterfront and visitor economy".

Commenting on the fact that the vessel was built by Cammell Laird, now named Balaena Birkenhead, Wirral Council leader Paula Basnett said: "Built here in Birkenhead, the new vessel is a showcase for Wirral's long-standing maritime and shipbuilding traditions and represents the best of our past and our future."

Sweeney said she had happy memories of going on the ferries over the years, adding: "I used to come to discos on the Royal Iris when I was a kid."

She said her mum had been an extra in the 1965 Ferry Cross the Mersey film featuring Gerry and the Pacemakers, who sang the eponymous song that continues to be played on board.

Sweeney said her family's fondness for the ferries had "passed on through the generations".

"My favourite thing with my son is to go on what we call the 'razzle dazzle' ferry up and down the river and the views are spectacular."

Rotheram said the new ferry was "the final piece in the jigsaw" in an overhaul of transportation in the city region which included investment in new trains and buses.

The Royal Daffodil launch comes after the Royal Iris, which featured in the 1965 Ferry Cross the Mersey film, was decommissioned earlier this year after 66 years.

Mersey Ferries vessels are used by commuters and visitors to the city region alike, with the new vessel including events and conference spaces to capitalise on the tourism industry.

Gary Evans, from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, said the ferries were "still a big integral part of the transport network".

He said the region had 61 million visitors a year "so it's really exciting and this is the first Mersey ferry that we have ever designed with the leisure market in mind".

Mersey Ferries employees Leah Rogers and Ellie Vondy said they remembered travelling on one of them while they were at nursery.

They said someone from their old nursery had contacted them when they saw social media posts about them both now working for Mersey Ferries and suggested they might have been inspired by that childhood visit.

Vondy described the Mersey Ferries as "iconic to Liverpool".

Rogers added: "Whenever you tell anyone you work for Mersey Ferries the first thing they do is start singing Ferry Cross the Mersey to you.

"So, yeah, you can't escape it!"

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