The Alfred

A maritime union has called for a thorough investigation into how a car ferry grounded in Orkney.

The MV Pentalina had 60 people on board when it grounded at St Margaret's Hope on Saturday Night .

The maritime union, the RMT, said it needed to be established how The Incident on the Pentland Ferries vessel happened.

Smoke was detected in the engine room of the MV Pentalina, before it grounded.

Emergency services, including lifeboats were called to The Scene at about 19:30 after the ferry issued a mayday message. It has since been refloated and berthed at St Margaret's Hope.

The coastguard said it would now be surveyed to establish the extent of any damage.

Pentland Ferries was granted a temporary Passenger Ship safety certificate by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency last week.

The Pentalina came back into service on Wednesday after Time In dry dock to allow another ferry, the MV Alfred, to service other routes to islands on the West Coast .

It suffered technical problems on Friday then on Saturday Night the ferry grounded on the shoreline, about 100 yards (91m) from its destination in Orkney.

The 56 adults, three children, and a baby, as well as several dogs, were taken ashore by RNLI lifeboats.

There are no reports of injuries and passengers described The Rescue operation as calm and professional.

A spokesman for the RMT said: " A thorough investigation will be needed to establish how this major incident aboard the Pentland Ferries vessel occurred. "

Last week, Pentland Ferries main vessel, the newer and larger catamaran MV Alfred, began a nine-month charter with CalMac on the West Coast , which is costing the Scottish Government £9m.

It is not clear when the MV Pentalina will return to service.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the MV Pentalina was refloated at about 05:30 after being towed by a tug and taken to its berth in St Margaret's Hope.

A spokeswoman said there were no signs of pollution and added that the ferry would be surveyed to establish the extent of any damage.

She added that The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) had been informed.

Coastguard teams from St Margaret's Hope, Stromness and Kirkwall and the Stromness and Longhope RNLI lifeboats were involved in The Rescue .

Transport Scotland said Pentland Ferries would assess the condition of the vessel and any next steps to determine whether there would be any loss of services on the Pentland Firth .

It said that any further action to support capacity to Orkney would be considered in due course.

A spokesperson said: " Ministers were quickly made aware of The Incident involving the MV Pentalina and kept informed of developments throughout The Night .

" We were relieved that all passengers and crew are safe and that arrangements were made to support passengers with onward travel. " We would also like to express our appreciation to all those involved in the evacuation, including RNLI crews and other emergency services. "

Hayley Green, vice chairperson of Orkney's Local Emergency Co-ordination Group (OLECG) said: " The Situation , including the impact on ferry provision across the Pentland Firth , will be reviewed over The Coming days. "

She also praised the efforts of all agencies involved, including The Local community and volunteer lifeboat crews.

Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston, who is from Orkney, said The Incident exposed the " pitiful lack of resilience in Scotland's ferry network".

He Said : " The Pentalina was only summoned back into action This Week because the MV Alfred had to be seconded from Pentland Ferries to help plug gaps in the ageing, unreliable CalMac fleet.

" While it will be important to know just how this incident came about, my immediate concern is for what this means for Orkney and how long this vital link for our islands will be severed.

" There are A Number of questions the Scottish Government needs to answer, including whether the £9m agreement between CalMac and Pentland Ferries allows for the MV Alfred to be recalled to Orkney early, or if The Alfred will stay on the West Coast and Orkney will be left without a key service. "

Orkney MSP Liam Mcarthur said there were also important questions for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to answer as it had recently inspected and certified the Pentalina as fit for service.

He added: " Answers are required too from the Scottish Government whose failure to procure new ferries in a timely fashion has left services both in the north and on the West Coast extremely vulnerable. As a result islanders and island communities are left paying The Price . "

The MV Alfred ran aground with 97 people on board who were transferred to lifeboats.

Source of news: bbc.com