Scottish owner overcomes operational obstacles

Pentland Ferries’ managing director, Andrew Banks, speaks candidly to PST about the trials and tribulations of operating its new catamaran, Pentalina

It is fair to say that things have not been smooth sailing for Pentland Ferries of late. FBMA Marine, the Philippines-based builder of the company’s recent delivery, Pentalina, ceased operation in 2009, causing the Scottish owner several problems.

Andrew Banks, Pentland Ferries’ managing director, told PST, “We thought we had 12 months’ warranty on Pentalina but the closure of FBMA left us without a warranty on anything. This played into the hands of all equipment suppliers, because they were able to tell us to sort out with the shipyard any issues we had. They knew the yard had ceased trading but therefore any problems were nothing to do with them.”

Mr Banks highlights particular concerns regarding the hull coating. “The paint has been poor,” he said. “It started to peel off and when a representative came to examine it, he said the steel was at fault, not the paint. Our response was: ‘But your inspectors supervised the paint application. Surely if there was a problem with the steel, they should not have allowed the paint to be applied?’”

Pentland Ferries has now contracted International Paint to deliver new hull coatings. “International said that the whole hull has to be stripped back to the bare metal, shot blasted, and new paint re-applied,” commented Mr Banks. This process is due to take place during Pentalina’s next annual docking in January 2011.

This was not the only teething trouble the 70m catamaran had. “We had quite a few problems with the bow thrusters when the vessel first arrived home last year,” said Mr Banks. “We had to strengthen the bedplates to which the pumps were fixed.” The bedplates were manufactured at the FBMA yard but Pentland Ferries has now had to bring in another company to modify this equipment.

The running of the four installed main engines has not been without incident either. According to Mr Banks, “We have had black smoke problems, and there have been difficulties with the electrics on the engines, too. The manufacturer claims that the warranty has expired as well!”

Pentland Ferries sold its previous vessels, Claymore and Pentalina B, to make way for the new catamaran on its route between Gills Bay and the Orkney Islands’ St Margaret’s Hope. Despite its initial challenges, Mr Banks was in favour of the original concept of the vessel on this route. “A medium speed (17 knots) catamaran is very fuel efficient. I think it should be the way forward for all ferries – they should be either catamarans or trimarans, depending on their routes.”

He claims that one day’s fuel consumption of competitor NorthLink Ferries’ full displacement Hamnavoe, which traverses between Scrabster on the Scottish mainland and Stromness in the Orkney Islands, keeps Pentalina running for a week.

“The other big saving is the crew,” he said. “Hamnavoe carries around 38 or 40 crew, whereas we need only 10.” However, recruiting crew is still a challenge for Pentland Ferries. “I tried agencies in the past, but we did not have much luck. Most of the jobs are filled using word of mouth by the crew themselves. We even have some Polish crew working here now, and we train everyone in-house.”

Mr Banks also had strong words to say on the subject of government funding for some ferry companies in the area. “Private operators should run all the ferry services in Scotland, because such companies, for example, Pentland Ferries and Western Ferries, are providing a service without government assistance, whereas Caledonian MacBrayne and NorthLink have each received upwards of £70 million from the Scottish government.”

He compares the situation with Hamnavoe, which he claims, receives around £10 million a year in subsidies, whereas Pentalina receives nothing. “We are competing against these government funded operators but we still managed to attract around 150,000 passengers last year. We are doing well; we have justified building the new ship and we can carry the cost of that,” says Mr Banks, who believes Pentland Ferries will recoup the cost of Pentalina over a period of 10 years.

There are also issues with NorthLink’s strategy of attracting passengers. “That company has introduced a ‘friends and family’ discount. It offers islanders a 30 per cent fare reduction and the islanders are allowed to nominate six households from the mainland to qualify for a 30 per cent discount, too. It is unfair competition on top of the subsidy,” he argues.

“If Pentland Ferries secured the same subsidy, it would be able to offer a free service to Orkney, of a better quality,” Mr Banks claims. “It seems no-one is interested in listening. The Scottish parliament owns Caledonian MacBrayne and NorthLink and is not going to rock the boat. Nevertheless, it must be becoming embarrassing for the government when a private ferry operator can operate a service alongside the state owned ferry service and compete with its own new ships.”

Despite the various challenges faced, Mr Banks is proud of his company’s successes. “I think our greatest achievement is that we have built our own roro ferry terminals, completely self funded, and we have constructed a brand new ship in a very cost effective way. We built Pentalina for £7 million. If it had been a government ship, it probably would have cost around £14-15 million,” he believes.

And Mr Banks’ advice to other shipowners? “Do not build a new vessel, unless you want to age approximately 10 years!” PST