News / First freight delivery expected after disruption
THE FIRST fresh food deliveries from outside Shetland are expected to be on the shelves from Tuesday following several days of disruption caused by the recent stormy weather.
Force nine south easterly gales led to Serco NorthLink cancelling all sailings of its passenger and freight vessels on Saturday and Sunday.
But – although it is forecast that the rough weather will continue – the freight vessel MV Hildasay was able to set sail from Aberdeen at 10.20am on Monday. It is expected in Lerwick at around midnight, with the possibility of a delay depending on sea conditions.
MV Hjaltland is due to depart Aberdeen for Lerwick at 7pm on Monday evening. MV Hrossey is scheduled to leave Lerwick at 7pm, but Serco NorthLink is advising passengers that there may be delays.
The stormy weather was not enough to hinder some of the bigger fishing vessels, including the Altaire, from heading back out to sea on Monday.
Fresh food sections at Lerwick’s two main supermarkets have largely emptied, but several country shops are reporting that they remain well stocked.
The situation facing the outlying Skerries community, however, is in danger of getting drastic. Islanders have been without fresh food and milk for around 12 days now, and the forecast of continued poor weather is causing concern.
Parent Ryan Arthur told Shetland News it was “getting a bit desperate now” with no likelihood of a ferry in “for the foreseeable future”.
“We’ve long since run out of fresh produce, just existing on what we have frozen,” he said. “Ourselves and Zoe Anderson have three young babies between us. As of today we think we have enough powdered milk to last seven days, but the forecast is still just as bad for seven days at least.
“We’re used to being cut off for a while now and then, but we’re starting to get really worried now.”
Tesco manager Paul Clelland said the supermarket now had “very little fresh foods left with the exception of our local stuff, however the rest of the store has pretty good availability”.
“The main thing, though, is we got a delivery in on Friday and our quietest two days of the week normally are Sunday and Monday, so the impact could have been worse,” he said.
In stark contrast, Scott Preston of Tagon Stores in Voe said stock levels were “absolutely fine – no problems at all”.
“I think the key is we use local suppliers,” he said, “ so we make sure the stock we have is sufficient. If we know there’s going to be boat cancellations, we up orders slightly.”
Preston decried the habit some people have of “panic buying” when it becomes apparent that no freight will come into Shetland for a few days.
“We don’t allow panic buying in the shop,” he said. “If we see people buying a large quantity of stuff, we tend to ask them if it’s for a specific event. We don’t want panic buying because it only creates more panic buying.
“We try to keep everything nice and calm. It’s not like the boats are never going to come back up. When people are posting pictures of Tesco shelves being empty, it frustrates me – we should all be shopping locally.”
He highlighted the benefits of shopping at outlets using more local suppliers, because it ensures more money circulates within the Shetland economy.
“I like supporting local businesses, local wholesalers,” he said. “That’s what a community like Shetland should be about. We use the local bakeries, so of course we have fresh bread.”
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