AN EMERGENCY ferry has finally been given clearance to begin a £1m-a-month taxpayer-funded charter to help ease lifeline service 'chaos' - but CalMac do not yet know which routes if any it can operate on.
Pentland Ferries has confirmed that it has released MV Alfred for use by Scottish Government-owned CalMac from Thursday but will have to undergo berthing trials first before it can operate.
From then trials will reveal which ports in the network can take the catamaran.
CalMac sources have admitted that they will not know for sure that it will be able to operate from any of the ports on the west coast until the berthing trials are complete.
Asked if they knew if there were any ports the ferry could use, a source said: "We won’t know for sure until she [MV Alfred] tries them out – we’re trying her out in the ports we think she’ll be likely to use based on her measurements."
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Ports expected to be visited by MV Alfred over the coming week to conduct trials include Ullapool, Lochmaddy, Port Askaig on Islay, Campbeltown, Brodick, Ardrossan and Troon. The vessel will also conduct trials at Ayr harbour to determine suitability as a lay by berth.
If all goes well, CalMac expect that trials will be completed on 30 April, with the vessel available for service thereafter.
A CalMac source said the trials will validate that she can fit into the ports they expect to be able to use and the charter can be ended if this is not the case.
One ferry user group official said that it was "incredible" that there was no clear idea over whether the vessel would be able to operate at all on the network.
"It is mystifying that money is being spent on chartering a vessel before being as sure as you can be that you can actually use it," he said.
"We can only hope that it will, because extra capacity and resilience has been needed in the network for many years."
Ferry managers have had to make preparations to have ports readied for six new vessels that are currently in the pipeline, two being the delayed vessels at Ferguson Marine and Ministers sanctioned the spend of £9m to charter the 'emergency' vessel for nine months.
The vessel which is at the centre of a crash investigation dating back to the summer of last year, is chartered from Pentland Ferries who will operate services on behalf of CalMac.
Concerns have been raised about the expense of the vessel with critics calling it a "panicked decision".
MV Alfred was due to join the fleet from April 18 but was delayed because of Pentland Ferries had issues with another vessel in its fleet - meaning it had to hold the vessel back.
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Last Wednesday that vessel, the MV Pentalina was granted a temporary passenger ship safety certificate (PSSC) by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), allowing it to carry passengers and vehicles.
MV Alfred has space for up to 430 passengers and 98 cars, or 54 cars and 12 articulated vehicles/coaches. CalMac has admitted it will not be able to deliver services in line with current timetables, due to the vessel's design and shape.
And because the vessel operates 'single ended' - an estimated turnaround time of around 45 minutes is required.
The then transport minister Jenny Gilruth said the vessel would bring "improved resilience to the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network" adding: "This is a key step in our longer term commitment to retain a fully crewed vessel in the fleet for this purpose, as set out in the draft islands Connectivity Plan".
Joe Reade, chairman of the Mull and Iona Ferry Committee said he thought it was "inconceivable" that they would have agreed the charter without being "pretty certain of which ports it can operate to".
But he said that there would be some ports including Oban and Craignure on the Isle of Mull would not be able to take MV Alfred.
"It’s not difficult – just some simple measurements of linkspan versus ferry ramp, but they will want to validate with a test berthing before they take paying passengers," he said.
"The ramp is offset to the port. If berthing port-side-to, the centre line of the ramp is about eight metres from the berth face. Most CalMac major ships are about 16m wide, so their ramps are 8m from the fender face also.
"So the Alfred should fit any pier where the ferry berths port-side-to. "
Pentland Ferries staff, who will operate services on behalf of Scottish Government-owned CalMac, bought MV Alfred for £14m in 2019 to operate between Caithness and Orkney.
It was built in Vietnam and can accommodate 430 passengers and 98 cars, or 54 cars and 12 articulated vehicles/coaches.
At the time it was described as the "most environmentally-friendly ferry in Scotland".
Under charter, all crew will be provided by Pentland Ferries who will be responsible for delivery of service and the operational, technical and safety management of the vessel, including maintenance, repair, overhaul and provision of crew throughout the charter period.
Transport Scotland said the £9m will cover berthing dues, fuel, the commercial charter rate and other undisclosed costs.
It comes amidst widespread disruption to services because of faults with vessels discovered during the annual overhaul process.
Two years ago a deal to buy a vessel similar in design to MV Alfred for £9m collapsed after the Scottish Government-owned procuring and ferry owning company Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) demanded a foreign firm pay up to £100,000 to pay for modifications that would allow it to gain UK maritime approval for it.
Negotiations had been taking place to secure the Indonesia-built vessel for months but the owners of the catamaran said they believed CMAL were never serious in completing the sale.
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The Scottish Government-owned ferry operator said the primary focus for the use of MV Alfred was to have her available for resilience purposes and provide relief benefits across the network.
MV Alfred was at the centre of controversy when on July 5, it partially ran aground on the Isle of Swona, the more northerly of two islands in the Pentland Firth between the Orkney Islands and Caithness on the Scottish mainland.
RNLI lifeboats were called to evacuate the Vietnam-built – with one person being rushed to hospital with a fractured shoulder.
Dozens more were feared to have suffered mental trauma and physical injuries including fractures, sprains and soft tissue damage.
It emerged that six passengers injured are seeking compensation.
Robbie Drummond, chief executive of CalMac, said: “I welcome the news from Pentland Ferries that MV Alfred will join us this week. Our primary focus will be to have her available for resilience purposes and provide relief benefits across the network. This should help mitigate the impact of disruption or where certain islands are reduced to single vessel service.
“Although resilience availability will remain the priority, there may be opportunities for MV Alfred to operate additional, non-bookable freight sailings, when possible, to support capacity constraints. This is most likely to be focused on freight operations at key pinch points on the network.
“We will continue to engage with network community representatives and commercial customers to discuss deployment options to support services across the network.”
CalMac is said to be UK's largest ferry operator, running 29 routes to over 50 destinations, across 200 miles of Scotland's west coast.
Their fleet of 35 vessels complete approximately 136,000 sailings a year with crossings ranging from five minutes to five and a half hours.
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