Hildasay breaks down off Orkney

THE NEW freighter serving the northern isles broke down 20 miles east of Orkney at the weekend, just a week after she started working on the route.

The newly christened Hildasay operated by NorthLink was on her way from Aberdeen to Lerwick when she lost propulsion for an hour and a half due to an electrical failure at around 6.30am on Saturday.

The vessel had 18 crew and five passengers on board at the time, with two cars and 21 trailers, eight of which were empty. Hildasay arrived around four hours late in Lerwick at 4pm.

A NorthLink spokesman said that although the vessel had come to a halt without power, there was no risk to passengers, crew or the vessel itself and that, once the fault had been identified, normal service had resumed efficiently and without further mishap.

“Nevertheless, NorthLink takes this opportunity to apologise to passengers and freight customers for the delay,” the spokesman said.