Ferry hopes sunk Anger as vessel intended to ease crisis is taken out of service due to ‘safety concerns’
A CATAMARAN ferry which Scots transport chiefs wants to use as an “emergency” to ease Scotland’s ferry crisis has been taken out of commercial service over “safety” concerns.
The Herald on Sunday can reveal that Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has said that the MV Pentalina catamaran which the Scottish Government is considering for charter on CalMac routes will remain out of service until issues have been resolved.
And the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers has now called for an inquiry into how the Scottish Government’s ferry procurement strategy could have exposed people to “risk”.
Brian Johnson, the chief executive of the MCA, the executive agency that implements British and international maritime law and safety policy, said there were “discrepancies” uncovered over structural fire protection relating to the passenger accommodation and a corridor providing access to the crew accommodation and galley servery.
An MCA surveyor has visited the vessel to undertake an inspection of “the area of concern” after safety concerns were aired by the general secretary of the RMT Michael Lynch.
In a letter to Mr Lynch, Mr Johnson said: “The local marine office [in Aberdeen] is working closely with the operator to agree a solution to the area concerned. The vessel remains out of commercial service at this time.”
Managing director of Pentland Ferries Andrew Banks insisted that the alterations were “minor” and did not compromise safety.
The Scottish Government’s Transport Scotland agency has been considering the suitability of Pentalina, which can hold 58 cars and 350 passengers.
Weeks of chaos
FERRY bosses inquired about chartering Pentalina on March 26 – nearly three weeks before the engine failure of CalMac’s biggest vessel, MV Loch Seaforth, which caused seven weeks of chaos across Scotland’s lifeline ferry network.
Some 16 of state-owned ferry operator CalMac’s 31 working ferries deployed across Scotland are now over 25 years old.
The oldest in the CalMac fleet is the Isle of Cumbrae which is 45 years old and still a regular summer ferry on Argyll and Bute’s Tarbert-Portavadie route.
But the RMT has been concerned over the safety of the vessel following a tip-off that the owner had personally altered the superstructure, “compromising safety provisions” at the intersection between the galley kitchen and passenger accommodation on the vessel.
The use of Pentalina was frowned on by the RMT union, which said the vessel had been laid up in Kirkwall since November 2020. It was concerned that crew and passenger safety could be threatened. “We have been proved absolutely right to do so,” said Mr Lynch.
“It is a fact that workplaces covered by trade union agreements are safer workplaces. On-board safety committees with crew representatives work well in CalMac Ferries but the buccaneering owner of Pentland Ferries, Andrew Banks, clearly regards maritime safety regulations with the same suspicion he regards trade unions.
“This vessel had been declared fit for relief service on four CalMac routes by the MCA before the RMT’s intervention. Rather than working with the vessel’s owner to gloss over this shocking case, we need an inquiry into how the Scottish Government’s ferry procurement strategy has exposed crew and passengers to this unacceptable level of risk.”
Safety concerns
RMT raised safety concerns with Mr Johnson on June 15, asking that MCA surveyors reinspect the Pentalina. An MCA spokesman told The Herald on
Sunday: “A surveyor from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency carried out an inspection on the vessel in question on June 16, 2021.
“Following the inspection, the vessel will remain out of commercial service at this time until the identified areas of non-compliance have been addressed and an MCA surveyor is invited back by the operators of the vessel to verify this.
“The MCA’s Aberdeen marine office are working closely with the operators of the vessel, who are fully co-operating, to resolve these deficiencies. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
Breakdowns
CAMPAIGNERS have been appealing for the chartering of the vessel as an emergency back-up because of a series of breakdowns to CalMac’s ageing fleet. Transport Scotland confirmed Pentalina was taking part in berthing trials at a number of ports in order to potentially be introduced.
Mr Banks said: “We confirm that the MV Pentalina was reissued with a full Passenger Ship Safety Certificate (PSSC) by the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) in March this year.
“Since the vessel went into service in 2009, the MV Pentalina has held a full Passenger Ship Safety Certificate (PSSC), compliant with stringent safety checks, conducted by the MCA on an annual basis.
“Following a recent inspection, we were advised to reinstate the original café servery, to which we had made a minor alteration in 2015. This alteration in no way compromised passenger safety and will not affect any potential chartering of the vessel.”
We need an inquiry into how the Scottish Government’s ferry procurement strategy has exposed crew and passengers to this level of risk