DJI Mini 3 Pro Meets MV Alfred Catamaran Docking at Ardrossan Harbour Scotland

In March 2023, the Scottish Government announced that it had chartered MV Alfred for nine months to supplement the Caledonian MacBrayne fleet, at a cost of £9 million. The charter was due to start on 18 April 2023, but was delayed for a week due to MV Pentalina being unable to get her Passenger Ship Safety Certificate in time; she received a temporary one and resumed service on 26 April 2023, allowing Alfred to be released to her charter.

After completing berthing trials across the CalMac network, Alfred was laid up at Ayr in order to carry out repairs to her hydraulics system and make adjustments to her stern ramp. During this time, she was off hire from her charter.

On 11 May 2023, CalMac confirmed that she had completed berthing trials at Lochmaddy, Ullapool, Port Askaig, Brodick, Ardrossan (only the Irish Berth), Troon and Campbeltown. However, she couldn't operate out of Port Askaig at the time due to a technical issue with her starboard thruster. As a result, CalMac initially deployed her on the Ardrossan to Brodick route from 12 May 2023, carrying out two return sailings to Arran per day for the first two weeks.