11th hour bid to save Cromarty-Nigg ferry scuppered
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AN 11th-hour attempt to get the Cromarty-Nigg ferry back into service for the summer has failed.
The private operator of the car ferry was forced to withdraw the service after Cromarty Harbour Trust condemned the vessel’s long established berthing facility at the pier as unsafe.
A sub-committee of Cromarty Community Council has been looking into the possibilities of getting a service back this season.
But Jeremy Price, a member of Cromarty Community Council, said: "Despite the best efforts of all concerned, it is apparent that it will not be possible to return a ferry service this year.
"Every potential and realistic option has been explored, including alternative moorings, but the obstacles are just too big to overcome in the short term.
"This is a serious blow not only to the ferry operator but also to the businesses of Cromarty, particularly bed and breakfast accommodation and those businesses that rely on the annual tourist influx, many of whom are passing through the town and onwards with an express purpose to use the ferry to do so.
"Community councils and businesses on the other side of the firth and further north are equally anxious to get a service back in place, as is the operator who now has a purpose-built ferry lying idle. All the parties involved will continue working with us to achieve this end."
Mr Price said a number of options for the future had been tabled and work would continue to ensure that in the medium to long term, a viable and efficient ferry service can be reintroduced to the benefit of everybody.
The Cromarty Ferry Company, owned by the Henderson family from the Black Isle, relaunched service with a new purpose-built boat in 2012 when the honours were performed by actress Penelope Keith who owns a home in nearby Fortrose.
Last summer the vessel carried 17,000 passengers across the firth.
Tom Henderson, director of the Cromarty Ferry Company, said: "We fully recognise the impact this will have on businesses in the community but the absence of a suitable and safe local base for the Cromarty Queen and the difficulties we will encounter in re-engaging a crew are too great to overcome."
He thanked the community council and the local action group for all their efforts, and added: "It is just a pity that we were not notified earlier of the problem with our established berth at Cromarty Harbour. We were always facing an uphill struggle to find a suitable alternative berth."
The vessel is currently sitting idle at Macduff Harbour.
The crossing is only half a mile and takes 10 minutes but saves a journey of over 45 miles by road.
It is known as The King’s Ferry, being the route taken by King James IV of Scotland when on pilgrimage to the shrine of St Duthac at Tain.
