News / Gales throw NorthLink into chaos
SOUTH easterly gales have thrown NorthLink’s ferry sailings into chaos, leaving almost 100 southbound passengers facing an almost 30 hour journey from Lerwick to Rosyth after Aberdeen harbour was closed.
Tuesday night’s sailing from Lerwick has been delayed until 6am on Wednesday and is not scheduled to reach Aberdeen until 9.30pm, whereupon she will turn around immediately and set sail for Lerwick, hopefully arriving at noon on Thursday.
As a result of the upheaval, Tuesday night’s northbound sailing from Aberdeen and Wednesday night’s southbound sailing from Lerwick have been cancelled.
Passengers booked on Wednesday night’s sailing from Lerwick can transfer to the Tuesday night boat if they prefer, the company said.
As gale force winds enter their second day, the 95 passengers on board the Hrossey face a nightmare journey through rough seas.
The ferry left Lerwick on schedule at 5.30pm on Monday and was expected to have its arrival at Aberdeen delayed until 2pm on Tuesday, running at much reduced speed to minimise discomfort.
However on Tuesday morning word came from Aberdeen that tidal conditions and a challenging swell had closed the harbour. With no indication when it might re-open, the master decided to divert to Rosyth in the Forth of Forth.
NorthLink said they were in the process of providing transport from Rosyth for passengers who wish to go to Aberdeen or into Edinburgh.
Citing this as the fifth time in nine years that such a diversion had been necessary, a spokesman said: “We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to customers, friends and family who will have been inconvenienced by the decision to divert to Rosyth.
“Those passengers who chose to sail with us did so in the knowledge that there could well be serious disruption due to the weather. Nevertheless, they have been inconvenienced and that is regrettable. We’re working now to lay on transport so that they can arrive at where they wanted to be initially.”
Meanwhile the Hjaltland arrived in Lerwick at 9.55am on Tuesday, three hours behind schedule.
The Pentland Firth service is expected to operate as normal, while the freight vessel Hildasay is scheduled to leave Kirkwall for Aberdeen at 4am on Wednesday. The Helliar is berthed in Kirkwall and her next sailing to Lerwick is currently under review.
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