Pentalina: Scottish transport minister reiterates 'no pressure' on safety certification process

Holyrood’s transport minister has reiterated there was no pressure placed on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to rush the safety certification of a ferry that ran aground at the weekend.

The MV Pentalina ran aground near the village of St Margaret’s Hope in Orkney, with 60 people, including a baby, on board. It was brought back into service by ferry operator Pentland Ferries to allow the MV Alfred to be chartered by CalMac to help reduce the pressure on the west coast ferry fleet.

Liam McArthur, the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Orkney, said this was only required due to the Scottish Government’s “desperation to plug gaps” in Scotland’s ferry network.

Mr McArthur had previously suggested rumours of “pressure” being applied to the MCA to speed up Pentalina’s safety certification to help release the Alfred.

Pentalina aground at St Margaret's Hope on Saturday.

However, transport minister Kevin Stewart said he was not aware of any such pressure, and admitted the situation for islanders was “gloomy”.

He said: “I heard Mr McArthur on the radio yesterday, talking about Pentalina being rushed back into service and suggested there was pressure put on the MCA to do so.

"Can I put on the record that we are not aware of any pressure being put on the MCA, certainly not by CalMac or ministers who would not be directly involved in that engagement.

"Given their role in rightly strictly enforcing maritime safety, it is doubtful the MCA would succumb to any pressure.”

The SNP minister also said the Scottish Government would continue to monitor whether there was a need for the number of sailings from Scrabster to Stromness to increase from three to four.

He said it was “too early” to say whether there was a need to “consider bringing Alfred back into the Orkney service” – a move that would have knock-on effects for the west coast service.

Mr Stewart told MSPs: "The terms and conditions of the charter of MV Alfred are a commercial matter between CalMac and Pentland Ferries. There is no recall clause within the terms of the contract which was a commercial decision made by Pentland Ferries as part of its discussions with CalMac.”

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is undertaking an investigation into the incident, with ministers calling for answers as to the cause as “soon as possible”.

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