Pentland Ferries ferry Alfred has gone to Belfast for repairs.
GRAHAM CAMPBELL
Vietnam-built catamaran Alfred (2018/2,991gt) arrived in Belfast on 18 July following a two-day journey from Orkney to the Harland and Wolff yard’s Belfast Dry Dock for attention to hull damage sustained in an incident on 5 July.
Carrying 84 passengers with 13 crew, Alfred grounded in calm conditions on the uninhabited island of Swona. There was no ingress of water and Alfred was refloated without assistance. Although 45 passengers had been evacuated by two local lifeboats, the remainder stayed on board as the journey to St Margaret’s Hope was completed, with two tugs in attendance for support.
Services on the short crossing of the Pentland Firth were suspended until 20 July, while Pentland Ferries’ stand-by vessel Pentalina (2008/2,832gt) was brought into service. She started sailings during the morning of 21 July.