Wait goes on for MV Alfred after £9m government deal
MV Alfred, owned by Pentland Ferries and set to join the CalMac fleet on a lease agreement, did not begin sea trials this week as expected, owing to the vessel still being needed on the Orkney service while its sister vessel MV Pentalina awaits its safety certification.
Pentland Ferries confirmed MV Pentalina was due to have her passenger certificate issued by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) after its overhaul. However, a number of outstanding items need to be completed before the safety certificate can be issued.
Robbie Drummond, CalMac chief executive, said: “The passenger certificate is expected to be issued early next week and we have been advised any delay will be short. There will not be any impact to our service plans or customer bookings as we have not scheduled MV Alfred in to provide any services.
“Once MV Alfred is released, we will proceed with berthing and sea trials across the network as planned.”
The chartering of MV Alfred has been a contentious issue with critics lambasting the £1 million per month cost to charter the vessel which will be used by CalMac for nine months.
The announcement that the vessel will be delayed has reignited the ire of Katy Clark, Scottish Labour MSP for West Scotland, who revealed last month that neither the minister for transport, CMAL or Transport Scotland had held meetings with vessel owner Pentland Ferries about the catamaran joining the CalMac fleet, despite it being investigated for crashing into an island only last year.
Ms Clark said: “It is unsurprising the charter of a vessel that the Scottish Government blindly signed off on without so much as a phone call has been delayed.
“Ministers were fully aware about last year’s accident. This shambles speaks to the Scottish Government’s shallow procurement strategy and how its ‘fair work framework’ is discarded at the drop of a hat.
“Island communities are crying out for a sustainable plan, but other than the overdue ferries sitting at Ferguson Marine, the approach seems to be to desperately scour the globe for second-hand vessels, outsource projects abroad or panic-lease from an operator.
“The Clyde and Hebrides needs a resilient fleet, but the Scottish Government has been utterly reckless in this instance. Ministers need to come forward with an emergency procurement strategy, with trade unions and island communities fully consulted.”
Once MV Alfred is transferred to CalMac, the vessel will undertake sea trials, as its sister ship MV Pentalina did in 2021 when it was being considered for potential lease. It will then be used to add resilience to the CalMac fleet which has been under immense stress because of a shortage of available vessels. The exact deployment plan for MV Alfred has not yet been released.