Pentalina back on Pentland Firth route as Alfred starts CalMac role
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The ferry MV Pentalina will be back on the Pentland Firth route on Wednesday – with its replacement, MV Alfred, set to begin its nine-month charter with CalMac the following day.
Operator Pentland Ferries says there will be no disruption to the service between St Margaret’s Hope and Gills Bay.
The vessel is making a temporary return to Caithness/Orkney crossings following a £9 million deal that will see the Alfred join the CalMac fleet until early next year.
MV Alfred will clear the linkspan after discharging in St Margaret’s Hope at 10.30am and Pentalina will be ready to take up the service for the scheduled departure to Gills Bay at 11.30. Alfred will then leave for Ullapool to begin berthing trials for CalMac Ferries.
Pentland Ferries managing director Helen Inkster said: “We are very pleased to confirm that the MV Pentalina is ready for service, which allows the MV Alfred to make her way to the west coast. We would like to thank all of our staff, crew and everyone who has been involved in successfully preparing the MV Pentalina for this next stage in her service.
“We are also pleased to remind passengers that sailings on the Pentland Firth route will increase from three to four next week [May 4] when we introduce our new summer timetable.”
The £14 million Alfred replaced the Pentalina on the Gills Bay to St Margaret’s Hope route in October 2019.
Alfred has never operated or completed berthing trials on any CalMac route, so these are required before she can be welcomed into the company's fleet.
Ports expected to be visited by the Alfred over the coming week to conduct the trials include Ullapool, Lochmaddy, Port Askaig, Campbeltown, Brodick, Ardrossan and Troon. The vessel will also conduct trials at Ayr harbour to determine suitability as a lay-by berth. It is expected that trials will be completed on April 30, with the ferry available for service thereafter.
CalMac chief executive Robbie Drummond said: “I welcome the news from Pentland Ferries that MV Alfred will join us this week. Our primary focus will be to have her available for resilience purposes and provide relief benefits across the network.
“This should help mitigate the impact of disruption or where certain islands are reduced to single vessel service.
“Although resilience availability will remain the priority, there may be opportunities for MV Alfred to operate additional, non-bookable freight sailings, when possible, to support capacity constraints. This is most likely to be focused on freight operations at key pinch points on the network.
“We will continue to engage with network community representatives and commercial customers to discuss deployment options to support services across the network.”
