New £14m ferry ordered for Gills route
PENTLAND Ferries has ordered a £14 million replacement ferry to operate its service between Caithness and Orkney next year.
Community and economic development representatives have welcomed the investment as giving a shot-in-the-arm to tourism in the far north.
The new catamaran will replace the Pentalina on the short-sea crossing of the Pentland Firth between Gills and St Margaret’s Hope.
The 85 metre-long vessel being built at a shipyard in Vietnam will be able to take 450 passengers - 100 more than the Pentalina.
The firm’s managing director Andrew Banks said it is possible they will add to its 55 staff when the new ferry goes ito operation.
He said: “Trade has been building up each year and we have been running at full capacity so we needed a bigger vessel.”
Full story in Friday's John O'Groat Journal.