A new solar-powered ferry launched on Loch Lomond has been named the Bàta Grèine. The German-built boat has room for 12 passengers, including wheelchair users, and will ferry day-trippers to the island of Inchcailloch. The name, meaning ‘boat of the sun’, was chosen by eight-year-old Lee Dickson from Balloch, who attended the official naming ceremony on Tuesday.

The news follows the launch of the UK’s largest solar-powered ferry in London’s Hyde Park last week. The £230,000 Serpentine Solarshuttle runs off 27 curved glass solar panels and carries 40 passengers. The boat’s designer, Chrisoph Behling, is already working on his next project, a solar-powered ferry to carry 300-passengers, which he hopes will be completed by 2008.