The introduction of an additional ferry to boost CalMac’s below strength fleet has been held up for a number of days.
MV Alfred has been hired on a nine month time charter from Pentland Ferries which intends to cover her Pentland Firth route with their second vessel, MV Pentlania.
However, the MV Pentalina is awaiting legal approval to undertake passenger duties and remains at the pier in Belfast while outstanding issues are dealt with.
The Alfred’s agreed start date with CalMac of Tuesday 18 April will be missed as a result.
The Pentland ferries were initially due to switch by this weekend but this is now delayed.
Earlier this week, inspectors from shipping regulator, Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) carried out what was meant to be final surveys to ensure the Pentalina is safe and stable to undertake commercial voyages
The inspections are required before signing off a statutory passenger safety certificate, effectively an operating licence.
Aspects such as crew safety drills were being assessed and defects to be resolved.
Pentland Ferries confirmed that MV Pentalina was due to have her passenger certificate issued yesterday (Friday) by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) following completion of overhaul.
However, MCA have not provided this due to what is described as “some small outstanding” items.
This means she cannot depart Belfast to cover Pentland services, so MV Alfred is required to cover those sailings until the Pentalina is on station.
Robbie Drummond, chief executive of CalMac, said he is “disappointed” at the hitch.
He said: “The passenger certificate is expected to be issued early next week and we have been advised that 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.”
Managing director of Pentland Ferries, Helen Inkster, said: “Despite our very best efforts, I can confirm that the passenger ship safety certificate has not been issued by MCA this week as we had hoped.
“A very rigorous inspection of the vessel has continued over recent days and while we have been able to deal with the majority of issues identified in the inspection, there remain items that we cannot resolve in time for the vessel to return to Orkney this weekend.”
Events over recent weeks hampered progress. The initial plan for dry docking in Greenock – thus allowing ample time for MCA to survey the vessel and any deficiencies to be addressed before returning to service – was abandoned as the work could not be completed within the required time slot.
An alternative dry dock in Belfast was sourced and the ship was due to be docked on 8 March.
This was pushed back to 28 March as another ship was delayed in vacating the dock.
These delays carried on into the Easter break when there was a shortage of yard workers available to complete the works.
The next issue related to the resealing of the shafts, which led to flooding being abandoned and a wait for a weather window to place the vessel back on the blocks, bringing subsequent delays to the completion of the survey by MCA.
Helen Inkster said: “It is essential that our vessels meet all safety standards and we are grateful to both MCA for their very thorough inspection and to the crew of MV Pentalina for the unwavering support and hard work during this time.
“We have worked tirelessly to achieve the deadline for the commencement of the MV Alfred’s charter to CalMac and I very much regret that there will now be a short delay to the planned date for releasing the vessel.
“We will be doing everything we can to minimise the delay, but in the meantime MV Alfred will continue to operate our service between Orkney and mainland Scotland.”
Last minute delay to CalMac’s chartered catamaran from Pentland Ferries
15 April 2023