Pentland Ferries is a privately owned, family company which has operated a ferry service between

Gills Bay Gills Bay, which is situated about west of John o' Groats with the community of Gills close by, has one of the longest stretches of low-lying rock coast on the northern shores of Caithness. Its main features are a small harbour and the pier used ...

in Caithness,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and St Margaret's Hope on South Ronaldsay in Orkney since May 2001. The company is one of only two major vehicle ferry operators plying within Scotland which are not subsidised by the Scottish Government or local authorities.

History

Pentland Ferries was founded by its present managing director, Mr Andrew Banks, in 1997. In October that year he purchased the

Caledonian MacBrayne Caledonian MacBrayne ( gd, Caledonian Mac a' Bhriuthainn), usually shortened to CalMac, is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries, and ferry services, between the mainland of Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland's west ...

passenger and vehicle ferry ''Iona''. Banks obtained a 99-year lease on the

terminal, about west of John o' Groats. After two years work improving the site, and further work at St Margaret's Hope, he started operating the short sea crossing with ''Pentalina B'' in May 2001. The service operates year-round with the custom built passenger and vehicle catamaran ''Pentalina''. An earlier attempt to operate the short sea crossing between Caithness and Orkney had been abandoned in 1989, mainly because of the exposed conditions at

. Andrew Banks was recognized in the 2014 Honours list and in March 2014 was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II. He attended the ceremony at Buckingham Palace with his wife, Susan and three daughters, Kathryn, Laura and Jenni.

Fleet

The current Pentland Ferries fleet consists of: *, since 2019 *, since 2008 Former fleet consists of: * MV ''Orcadia'', 2015–2021 *, 1997–2009 *, 2002–2009 The current catamaran ferry, , was built in the Philippines for the Pentland Firth, where it entered service in March 2009. The ferry has a capacity of 350 passengers and either 32 cars and 8 articulated lorries or an increased number of cars, with a service speed of . The original ferry, former

vessel MV ''Iona'', was purchased in October 1997 and renamed ''Pentalina-B''. The first drive-through MacBrayne ferry with both bow and stern doors, she carried around 50 cars, or 4–5 articulated lorries and fewer cars. During the off-seasons since 2006, she was chartered out, carrying livestock across the channel from Dover and providing freight relief for CalMac. She was sold to an owner in Cape Verde in late 2009. Another former

CalMac Caledonian MacBrayne ( gd, Caledonian Mac a' Bhriuthainn), usually shortened to CalMac, is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries, and ferry services, between the mainland of Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland's west ...

vessel, , was owned between October 2002 and March 2009. After another attempt at starting up the Orkney to

Invergordon Invergordon (; gd, Inbhir Ghòrdain or ) is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. It lies in the parish of Rosskeen. History The town built up around the harbour which was established in 1828. The area beca ...

route fell through, the vessel was put to work during the winter season in place of ''Pentalina-B''. ''Claymore'' was sold in March 2009. The fleet also includes a barge, used for dredging at Gills in the summer and an extension to the pier at St Margaret's Hope in the winter, a former fishing boat, to tow the barge and a tug / workboat for general duties. In addition to the usual tractor units and tugs for moving trailers and other cargo equipment there are a number of pieces of construction and earth-moving equipment not usually required by a ferry company. In February 2015, the company bought a further

vessel, , to be used as a freight vessel. In April 2017, an order for a new 85m catamaran ferry was placed with Strategic Marine with funding secured from Bank of Scotland. The vessel was built by Strategic Marine Vietnam (

Vũng Tàu Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is the largest city of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province in southern Vietnam. The city area is , consists of 13 urban wards and one commune of Long Sơn Islet. Vũng Tàu was the capital of the p ...

). Initially due to enter service in summer 2018, the vessel, named ''MV Alfred'', arrived in St Margaret's Hope on 9 October 2019, and entered service on 1 November 2019. The vessel was designed b
BMT Specialised Ship Design
(formally BMT Nigel Gee) and is claimed to be one of the cleanest and greenest ferry of its kind, with over 60% less fuel consumption and emissions than similar ferries serving the Scottish islands.

Route

The Short Sea Crossing is the quickest route across the

Pentland Firth The Pentland Firth ( gd, An Caol Arcach, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth. Etymology The name is presumed to be a corrup ...

by car, taking under an hour. Due to the short sailing time the vessels have a cafeteria for meals and refreshments, but no cabin accommodation.

Footnotes

External links

Pentland Ferries – Official WebsitePentland Ferries – Unofficial Ships Data and History WebsiteBMT Specialised Ship Design
{{Scottish Ferry Operators 1997 establishments in Scotland Transport companies established in 1997 Ferry companies of Scotland Transport in Orkney