Transport / Politicians make plea for shared cabins to return
TWO NORTHERN Isles politicians have urged the Scottish Government to bring back shared cabins on the NorthLink ferries.
The government is currently consulting on the Northern Isles ferry contract between Aberdeen, Kirkwall and Lerwick, and is looking for views on how the service can be improved.
Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart and Orkney representative Liam McArthur have used that opportunity to make a plea for shared passenger cabins to return.
Shared cabins were scrapped during the Covid pandemic, with both operator NorthLink and government agency Transport Scotland repeatedly saying since that they would not be brought back.
While a number of reasons have been given for the withdrawal over the years, Serco NorthLink managing director Stuart Garrett has most recently said that safety was the primary concern with shared cabins.
That has meant that passengers travelling alone on the ferries have had to book an entire cabin to themselves, or try to find someone to share with through social media.
Wishart has repeatedly criticised the move to remove shared cabins, and in April said she had heard of alarming incidents of intimidating behaviour towards women in NorthLink’s shared pod lounges.
The MSP said she was yet to receive a “clear explanation” as to why shared cabins could not return.
Both her and fellow Liberal Democrat politician McArthur have now jointly pushed for the Scottish Government to reinstate shared cabins, saying they offered a far more affordable means of travel on the lifeline ferry service.
“The loss of the longstanding policy of shared cabins has removed personal choice and inconvenienced many on NorthLink sailings,” Wishart said.
“With limited ability to sleep horizontally on the vessels, shared cabins were an option to try and get a good night’s sleep while reducing travel costs.
“The withdrawal of the policy has also impacted the value of concessionary vouchers. For sole passengers, securing a berth in a cabin now means using a voucher plus a cash contribution or a second voucher.
“I would encourage as many people as possible to take part in the Northern Isles ferry service consultation that is now open to ensure that the contract design for the lifeline service can properly reflect and meet the needs of islanders.”
McArthur added that islanders “should not be held to ransom” to get a good sleep on the ferry.
“For years, a system of ‘shared’ cabins worked perfectly well on the Aberdeen route and allowed islanders to keep costs down when travelling,” he said.
“Charging full prices for cabins that are often at less than 50 per cent occupancy fails to make good use of available capacity and leaves passengers either out of pocket or sleeping in chairs or on the floor.
“One constituent recently likened the situation to making someone with a motorbike book deck space for a motorhome.
“With the new contract for the Northern Isles ferry services open for consultation, Scottish ministers must take the opportunity to make clear that ‘shared’ cabins will be part of the offer once more.
“Overcharging islanders to use their lifeline service is simply not acceptable.”
A petition earlier this year called for the return of shared cabins, but Garrett said in response that they were “not coming back”.
He said “safety” was the primary reason why they will not return.
“Pod lounges are open to crew,” he said.
“They are common user spaces, there’s CCTV.”
None of these things were true of shared cabins, he added.
The Northern Isles ferry service consultation on the design of the new contract for the Aberdeen to Northern Isles route is now open and will close on 13 October.
People can respond to the consultation here.
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