Pentland Ferries' new catamaran set to make inaugural voyage across firth
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THE new £14 million Pentland Ferries catamaran which will operate between Caithness and Orkney is to make its inaugural voyage today.
The MV Alfred arrived in St Margaret’s Hope recently after a 9000-mile trip from Vietnam, where it was built, and has been undergoing final fittings and trials before making its first trip across the Pentland Firth.
Described as the most environmentally friendly ferry in Scotland, it can accommodate 430 passengers and 98 cars, or 54 cars and 12 articulated vehicles/coaches. It has an indoor sun-deck lounge as well as five other seating areas.
MV Alfred will enter service on the St Margaret’s Hope to Gills Bay route this afternoon (Friday). The ship will leave St Margaret’s Hope on its inaugural trip at 1pm.
Managing director Andrew Banks said: “We are delighted to be welcoming passengers on board the ship. We’re confident that they will love the high quality of the new facilities and the improved capacity on board.
“From first inception to the start of service has been a particularly long journey, and one that we could not have done without the support of many people along the way, particularly our own dedicated team and family members.
We’re confident that passengers will love the high quality of the new facilities and the improved capacity on board.
“Our green credentials are very important to us, so we are proud to be introducing a vessel that is particularly low in terms of fuel consumption and emission levels. These efficiencies sit at the centre of a much wider energy-efficient drive by Pentland Ferries which includes reducing waste, using low-energy lighting, recycling, and switching to wind power, wherever possible.
“We know that visitors coming to our islands look for service and facilities of the very highest standard. Increasingly, they are also looking for a service that has the strongest possible environmental credentials.
"We are very pleased, therefore, to see the MV Alfred delivering all of these qualities and to be, literally, the flagship of a service that is truly breaking new ground on all counts.”
MV Alfred was named in honour of Mr Banks’s father, a pioneer of the ferry business who died at the age of 87.
The vessel was launched earlier this year after being constructed in Vung Tau, about two hours’ drive from Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).
The naming ceremony was performed by Louise Berston – Andrew and his wife Susan’s daughter-in-law – with a bottle of OVD rum, which was Alfie’s favourite tipple.
The new vessel will replace the Pentalina on the route. Mr Banks explained recently that trade had been building up each year with the Pentalina running at full capacity so a bigger vessel was needed.
