Hebridean and Clyde ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne and its partner Royal Bank of Scotland have been named as the preferred bidder to run the passenger, car and freight services to Orkney and Shetland.

The Scottish Executive today [Thursday, October 5, 2000] named the new CalMac and Royal Bank company (which had the project name of NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries) as the preferred bidder to operate the subsidised ro-ro ferry services to the Northern Isles which are currently operated by P&O.

With finance from the Royal Bank of Scotland, this new company will build three new vessels which have been specially designed to meet the needs of the Northern Isles routes. The company plans to provide a new improved timetable, more sailings, shorter journey times and attractive fares on the routes from Scrabster to Orkney and Aberdeen to Orkney and Shetland.

Captain John Simkins, CalMac’s managing director, said: "We are extremely pleased to have been named as preferred bidder. We worked hard to put together a competitive bid which meets the needs of the islanders through combining CalMac’s considerable ferry operating experience with the financial strength of a major Scottish financial institution. We look forward to reaching a satisfactory conclusion on the contractual details."

The new company is well advanced in talks with shipyards who have tendered for the contracts to build the three new ships which will meet all the latest UK and international safety standards as well as providing extensive passenger facilities. All cabins are en-suite and the majority are two-berth with a number of four berth cabins for families and cabins specially adapted for disabled passengers. There will be a choice of restaurants, bars and lounges, children’s play area and the two Aberdeen to Shetland ships will also have a cinema.

Jeff Thornton, head of the public sector finance group at Royal Bank said: "We are delighted that the bid has been successful and look forward to this new business venture with CalMac. This is a natural development of our proven investment and financial expertise."