MV Alfred To Arran!

With the Caledonian Isles off on her Western Isles tour it allowed the Alfred to cover her sailings and also give me a chance to sail on her, something I wasn't able to manage during the summer! Having been chartered from Pentland Ferries to allow some much needed rest bite to the Western Isles thanks to a mixture of delayed ferries and technical issues, being chartered on an original 9 month contract which has been extended by 6 months the Alfred has seen use on the Ardrossan to Brodick service during the summer, so having been unable to see what she has to offer during the summer I had a chance to see her for myself and see what could perhaps be the future design of Calmac vessels!
Hope you enjoy the video!

[@iskye07]

17:40 do Pentland Ferries always issue their safety briefs from Transylvania?

[@russmclean2395]

Thank goodness Andrew Banks chartered his ship, the MV Alfred to CMAL/CalMac. This ferry has saved the island of Arran’s economy. Maybe if the owners of CalMac had listened to John Rose (founder of Western Ferries) and chartered the MV Highland Seabird 40+ years ago, we would not be in such a mess). As for vested interest groups that are frightened of MV Alfred and putting about the lie that Pentland Ferries are making millions. The charter INCLUDES FUEL AND CREW COSTS. For those with the hidden agendas, maybe declare this fact next time you try and do down this valiant effort to help Islanders. Just out of interest, does anyone care to hazard a factual assessment of how much the MV Alfred fuel bill is for a full year? Also for fairness, how much fuel (in pound notes) does the MV Caledonian Isles go through each year? Whatever else, a HUGE round of thanks to Andrew Banks (and his brilliant Orcadian crew) at Pentland Ferries for saving the Arran economy. God help the other islands on the West Coast.

[@ambasteir8316]

The majority of crew on the Alfred are from the West coast, very few Orcadians on it- most are on the Pentalina.

[@lindavid1975]

Is this Iran? It looks like winter.

[@williamgardner2739]

No it`s Arran of the west of Scotland, Iran is in North Africa near Iraq.And it`s a good Scottish summer.

[@scottbraid443]

Not fan of her and she not compatible for a lot of linkspans and think they would be better off buying a 2nd hand boat with a bow and stern ramp.

[@ambasteir8316]

She has done the job well though. Remember, the boat was designed for the run from Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope, it wasn't designed to be used at different berths. The fact she is very beamy at 22m affects this too. The system works well, few vehicles have to reverse on. It is far cheaper to run and to be fair, do vessels really require bars and restaurants for sailings taking less than an hour?