Orkney-based Pentland Ferries has become the first ferry operator in the UK to achieve a Green Tourism Award.
The award for the family-run company follows the introduction in November 2019 of a new purpose-built vessel, the MV Alfred, which brought highly superior environmental credentials to the service between St Margaret’s Hope in Orkney and Gills Bay in Caithness.
The ship’s efficient design, LED lighting, and fuel efficiency all contributed to the bronze-level award.
It also recognised the use of local food suppliers, and onboard wind turbine and waste reducing and recycling initiatives that the company encourages passengers to embrace onboard.
The company’s managing director Andrew Banks, said: “Our environmental credentials are very important to us, so we are very proud to be the first ferry operator in the UK to achieve a Green Tourism Award.
“The MV Alfred is more than 60 per cent more efficient in terms of fuel consumption and emission levels than other comparable ferries operating in Scotland.
“These efficiencies sit at the centre of a much wider energy-efficient drive by Pentland Ferries, which includes reducing waste, using low energy lighting, recycling, and using wind power to power the vessel overnight.”