MV Pioneer is a stern / side loading ferry built in 1974, in service for 29 years covering nearly all of Caledonian MacBrayne's routes.

[1] In 1978 CalMac took over the Western Ferries terminal at Kennacraig, three miles down the loch, and in February 1979, Pioneer was replaced by the larger MV Iona.

During a refit at Leith, her two cranes were removed and two side-loading ramps were connected to a large car hoist, for use at terminals without linkspans, allowing her to replace the ageing MV Bute as the Mallaig - Armadale ferry.

Pioneer also had brief periods at Coll, Tiree, Barra, Colonsay, Canna, Lochboisdale, Lochmaddy, Craighouse and Lochaline for passenger and livestock runs.

[2] In January 2003, after a brief overhaul in the James Watt Dock, she took up the Mallaig and Armadale crossing, awaiting the new ship, MV Coruisk.

On 1 November 2003 she made an unexpected return north to Mallaig to perform her final day of service with CalMac, covering the Small Isles roster.

Renamed Brenda Corlett, after the new owner's wife, she now serves the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea, straddling the equator in West Africa.