Highland Council awards new Mallaig ferry contract

HIGHLAND Council has awarded a new contract for the lifeline passenger ferry service between Mallaig and the Knoydart peninsula – with more sailings scheduled.

Sandaig Ltd of Knoydart have accepted the terms of a contract that runs until March 2018, and allows the authority to extend the arrangement by a further two years.

The authority said the service will be available every day of the week at a significantly reduced cost to the Council. The service begins on 1 April.

The winter timetable (October until April) will see four return sailings a day on weekdays and two per day at weekends.

The summer timetable (May until September) will see six sailings a day on weekdays and four at weekends. Up to four boats will be used to accommodate peaks in passenger numbers.

The current contract provides two return journeys on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and none at weekends.

Tarbet will be served on the same basis as the current contract.

Councillor Graham Phillips, chairman of Transport Environmental and Community Services, said: “I am absolutely delighted to announce a much extended service to support the Knoydart community.

“It provides more trips daily, every day of the week. It is good for businesses to access the remote community daily and easily and it is good for the community.

“Importantly, in these challenging times, the contract represents extremely good value for money for the Council.”