Transport / ‘We will maintain connectivity’, NorthLink boss vows amid longest period of disruption since Serco took over
THE ONGOING weather-related disruption to the NorthLink ferry service is the longest in the 13 years since Serco took over the Northern Isles’ lifeline service.
The company’s managing director Stuart Garrett said his staff are working tirelessly to make sure both the passenger and freight vessels are running whenever it was safe to do so.
It comes amid weeks of disruption, with passenger and freight sailings again being cancelled over the past few days due to high winds.
The passenger ferry Hjaltland is also now in dry dock until Sunday 15 February, which has further strained the service.
A constant and chilly south-easterly airflow with gales over the isles, caused by a stable high over Scandinavia, has dominated the weather for the last three weeks.
Garrett said this has not only caused big problems with access to Aberdeen harbour but also excessive wave height, particularly in the Fair Isle gap.
Following some delays right at the start of the year, the lifeline service has been battling with continuous south-easterly force six to eight winds since 9 January.
Since then, the nightly passenger and freight service has been cancelled at least on eight occasions, including last night and tonight (Wednesday), and most services that were able to run experienced delays or changes to the timetable.
A pilot was also unable to board the Hjaltland outside Tyne on Tuesday due to wave action, causing delays in her getting into dry dock, and hence is likely to push back the date she is expected to be back in service.
Garrett, speaking to Shetland News while waiting to board a plane at Heathrow, said the length of ongoing disruption was unprecedented.
“This is the longest continuous period of south easterly interruptions that we have experienced,” he said.
He said the incoming freight flex vessels, with stabilisers and increased power, will make a difference in the service provision in poor weather conditions.
Garrett said: “We take opportunity to sail that we have; we will use whatever options present.
“We got all the Up Helly Aa traffic up, and we got all of them back. It wasn’t probably very pleasant.
“I have huge respect and admiration for my colleagues, both ship and shore, for the effort they go to ensure that, wherever possible, we will maintain connectivity in whatever timetable form we can.”
But the days of sailing without clear understanding of what to expect weather-wise have long gone, Garrett added, insisting that ensuring a safe passage within the required safety standards was paramount.
And responding to the many critics who regularly suggest that previous operators had sailed in worst conditions, Garrett said the company was in the fortunate position to be able to rely on a range of very accurate weather and wave forecasts.
“In the past people did not know what conditions were like, that is the difference,” he said.
“The predictive forecast that we get is improved, and hinders vessel from moving when, perhaps, in past they would have moved.
“The days are gone of going out and sailing for 24 hours, just because we think we are able to it.”
Garrett said the first couple of weeks of delays and cancellations were mainly caused by the “overall operating limits”.
“People should not think that this is purely and Aberdeen issue; the conditions in both the Moray Firth and the Fair Isle gap have been excessive,” he said.
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