A Loch Ness cruise trip company has invested £1.4million in a new catamaran aimed at monster hunters.
Family run business Cruise Loch Ness (CLN) hopes the design of the vessel, which is due to go into service next year, will give people their best chance of seeing the loch’s legendary but elusive inhabitant.
Construction of the catamaran, designed by Australian firm Incat Crowther, is under way at Exeter Fabrication in Devon.
Fort Augustus-based CLN said the boat’s “monster-sized” main deck windows would optimise Nessie-spotting opportunities.
The Spirit of Loch Ness will be able to carry up to 220 passengers, nearly double the capacity of the firm’s current largest vessel.
CLN said its investment, financed by a loan from Clydesdale Bank as well as the proceeds from the sale of an older boat, was commissioned after a 20% rise in passenger numbers last year.
Managing director Ronald Mackenzie added: “2015 was phenomenal for us.
“The idea of the catamaran has been floating about for a couple of years but the time just feels right to take a leap. We felt if we didn’t do it now, we might have to turn away business in the future.
“We did have a look around at the second-hand boat market but nothing was geared up to the Nessie-hunting standards that we want.”