Pentalina was designed by the naval architects, Sea Transport Solutions of Australia. The catamaran form has a steel hull with aluminum superstructure.[2] She is designed to handle the rough seas off the north coast of Scotland.[1] Her overall length is 70 m (230 ft), with a beam of 20 m (66 ft).
Pentalina was built in Cebu, Philippines, starting in February 2007. She was ready to launch in April 2008, although there were delays in installing equipment. The 10,000-mile (16,000 km) journey from the Philippines to Scotland was delayed by bad weather, forcing a short detour to Salalah, Oman.[1] She arrived in St Margaret's Hope on 9 December 2008.[4]
There was discussions of her doing sailings from Gills Bay to Shetland.[5]
Pentland Ferries commissioned a larger catamaran, MV Alfred, to replace Pentalina on the St Margaret's Hope to Gill's Bay route, and the new vessel entered service on 1 November 2019. On 5 July 2022, Alfred ran aground on the island of Swona and Pentland Ferries confirmed that the port bulbous bow had sustained impact damage.[6]Pentalina returned to serve on the St Margaret's Hope - Gill's Bay route while Alfred was in dry dock in Belfast.[7]Alfred returned to service on 12 August 2022.[8]
2023 grounding
On 29 April 2023, Pentalina ran aground near St Margaret's Hope. Pentland Ferries stated that smoke was detected in the ship's engine room around 19:30 and she subsequently grounded. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution arrived at the incident, and 60 people were safely evacuated. It was described as a Major Incident by the RMT.[9]Pentalina was moved to her berth, about 90 m (300 ft) away, the next morning and was expected to be out of service for repairs until 21 May 2023.[10]
