Press Release
NorthLink ferries latest
Councillor Allan Wishart
The Scottish Government has confirmed that one of the ferries on the Aberdeen-Kirkwall-Lerwick route will now be diverted to cover the Pentland Firth route when the Hamnavoe is in drydock later this month.
Chair of the Council’s Environment and Transport Committee Allan Wishart said this morning, “We would have liked to keep our ferries Hjaltland and Hrossey for at least some of the drydock period but since the Government would not charter an alternative vessel to cover the Pentland crossing, we now face a nine-week period with only one passenger ferry serving Shetland.
“We have explored other options with local transport stakeholders. The feedback we received showed that the shuttle service which the Government was proposing, as an alternative to chartering in a replacement ship, has no advantages over the original drydock timetable. It follows that the original drydock timetable is being retained, but if there is weather disruption during the drydock period, a shuttle service should be called upon at that time.
“Personally, I am very disappointed that Shetland will be losing one ferry for such a long period. However, I am heartened that the Government now has a much better understanding of the threat to Shetland’s economy of having only one passenger ferry. We have to ensure that this situation never arises again.”