Letters / Bring back old fares
It’s all very well for the North Isles’ councillors to ‘vent their frustration’ at the present state of ferry fares on Bluemull Sound (North isles tourists could pay higher fares; SN 11/3/14) – but the people who are suffering from it are those who have no choice but to commute for work between Unst, Yell and Fetlar on a shift (or a daily) basis.
The fact that the cost of using the ferry to travel on Bluemull Sound is now exactly the same as the cost of a return ticket from Belmont to Toft is outrageous, inequitable and counter-productive.
In my opinion, the fares structure that was in place before travel on Bluemull Sound became ‘free’ a few years ago was perfectly reasonable, and should never have been altered.
I’d have thought that simply reinstating it now, possibly with a slight increase to account for inflation in fuel costs since then, would go a long way towards calming-down the resentment and annoyance felt by travellers between the three North Isles.
Worse than that, though, the whole charade of SIC Ferries trying to behave like a business (by effectively proposing to sting would-be tourism visitors to the North Isles, in order to subsidise travel for the islands’ residents, simply to plug a hole in their finances), coupled with the fact that everyone concerned in this matter has seen fit to air the whole debate on a public forum – this online newspaper, in fact, which is read all over the world – shows a staggering lack of perception of the possible impact of such contemptuous action on Shetland tourism generally, and on Shetland’s well-founded reputation as a friendly tourism destination.
If the people at SIC Infrastructure and SIC Ferries can’t see just how much of a slap in the face and a discouragement to tourism such a proposal would be, then I strongly suggest that all of the personnel involved in this affair should be sacked forthwith, and replaced by people who DO understand.
A few days ago in this same newspaper, the matter of fuel-burn enhancement was aired briefly. I believe that this idea needs to be investigated as a matter of great urgency, because where the smaller ferries consume around 7,000 litres of diesel a week each, and the Yell Sound ferries around 28,000 litres a week each, a saving of even a modest 20 per cent in annual fuel usage would probably achieve the required £3m a year in savings that SIC Ferries requires in order to balance its books.
Again, if this idea hasn’t yet been considered seriously by SIC’s engineers and senior management, it may well be time to consider replacing them all with people whose more up-to-date knowledge of the subject would enable them to.
Philip Andrews
Unst
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