JustMe Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 The trouble with that £25k is that it could so easily come to be regarded as a precedent not only for the SIC but the Orkney and Western Isles councils and even those covering the smaller islands and those around the Clyde estuary. So I agree that the council was right to refuse. Anyway is this not all Northlink's fault as the crew of their hired freight ship did not spot an almost invisible rope in time to take avoiding action. Perhaps in future any vessels hired for this route should have rope proof propulsion systems.......and preferably at least three of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suuusssiiieee Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 No freight sailings tonight and again under review for tomorrow also. Yet Streamline's service remains unaffected - i'm i missing something here? Memo to NorthLink:- Get shot of those useless freight vessels as you clearly have no confidence in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 No freight sailings tonight and again under review for tomorrow also. Yet Streamline's service remains unaffected - i'm i missing something here? Yes you are. Streamline run a container ship while the Northlink freight boats are ro-ro with trucks driven onto the vehicle deck and even if they are chained down I am sure there is more chance of them moving than containers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances144 Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Pants. No freight boat tonight - cancelled. I am not going now - so won't have my new fun experience I was looking forward to. (on crack-of-sparrows flight tomorrow now plus hire car) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suuusssiiieee Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 So if i read the report on the Shetland News correctly some chunk of the front bar on board is going to be changed over to the dreaded reclining seats. I can't say i'm thrilled about that as there not the most comfy of things, and besides sitting on one of them on a bouncy night up forward does not sound like fun to me. The gaming space is getting the section of the forward bar's seats that the recliners are replacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suuusssiiieee Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 Now the Hamnavoe has crankshaft trouble and is currently stuck in Stromness will that mean the Hjaltland covering the Firth and Shetland down to one passenger ferry again?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 Now the Hamnavoe has crankshaft trouble and is currently stuck in Stromness will that mean the Hjaltland covering the Firth and Shetland down to one passenger ferry again?... Well seems to me that Serco have a contract to provide a nightly ferry service to Shetland and taking one of the ferries away to cover another route might well count as breach of contract. I suppose taking a freight vessel to cover freight crossings on the Pentland Firth would be reasonable and passengers could use the other company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 BBC Radio OrkneySerco Northlink has just confirmed that the Hamnavoe sailings over the Pentland Firth are cancelled on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Despite the real prospect of the ship will be out of action for many weeks the company has made no comment on what might happen beyond Tuesday. In a statement the company said "Due to a mechanical failure which is currently under investigation all sailings on Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th have been cancelled.Further assessments are due to take place, this however may conclude that further remedial work is necessary to get the vessel back on route." It's understood that the repairs could take between 4 and 6 weeks and will involve the ferry being dry-docked and having some kind of access hole cut in her side in order to work on the affected engine. On Friday Serco Northlink told BBC Radio Shetland that there were no plans to take either the Hjaltland or the Hrossey off their routes to replace the Hamnavoe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorrie Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 BBC Radio OrkneySerco Northlink has just confirmed that the Hamnavoe sailings over the Pentland Firth are cancelled on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Despite the real prospect of the ship will be out of action for many weeks the company has made no comment on what might happen beyond Tuesday. In a statement the company said "Due to a mechanical failure which is currently under investigation all sailings on Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th have been cancelled.Further assessments are due to take place, this however may conclude that further remedial work is necessary to get the vessel back on route." It's understood that the repairs could take between 4 and 6 weeks and will involve the ferry being dry-docked and having some kind of access hole cut in her side in order to work on the affected engine. On Friday Serco Northlink told BBC Radio Shetland that there were no plans to take either the Hjaltland or the Hrossey off their routes to replace the Hamnavoe. Cutting through the hull to work on the crank? Eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirvaluk Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 They said on Radio Shetland that the Hjaltland and Hrossey may make exta runs through Orkney through the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 There are parts within a vessel that are built round, generally, it could alter the design of the vessel to have a means of removal. It is common practice. Some of these are quite impressive, though I do not think they are the same as the ferries. http://www.vincelewis.net/bigengine.html It would be difficult to manoeuvre such a large single piece of engineered steel through small doors. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8472/8091374312_b0394d4cd3_b.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
engineer21 Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 its very normal to cut into the hull of a ship to access various areas, esp the engine-room, steering gear etc. happens during many large dockings removal of generators etc a problem with a crankshaft could be quite a big issue, or one they could solve in a few days but no one will know till the manufacturer has a look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted April 30, 2013 Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 Just heard on the news that Serco Northlink are being "fined" a huge sum of money per day for failing to run the Pentland Firth service. Now I am no great lover of Serco but I have to say it sounds a bit unfair to penalise Serco when the vessel they had to use breaks down. Must admit that I have been wondering if Serco got the contract with a low bid meaning all they hoped to do this time was to break even in order to have experience when bidding for other routes. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exciseman Posted April 30, 2013 Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 Just heard on the news that Serco Northlink are being "fined" a huge sum of money per day for failing to run the Pentland Firth service. Now I am no great lover of Serco but I have to say it sounds a bit unfair to penalise Serco when the vessel they had to use breaks down. Must admit that I have been wondering if Serco got the contract with a low bid meaning all they hoped to do this time was to break even in order to have experience when bidding for other routes. Just a thought.My heart really bleeds for them "Announcing pretax profits up 27% to £302m, Serco said its operating margin has grown from 6.2% to 6.4%." The fine is to protect our money i.e. the government grant of £35 million they get to run the service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted April 30, 2013 Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 Just heard on the news that Serco Northlink are being "fined" a huge sum of money per day for failing to run the Pentland Firth service. Now I am no great lover of Serco but I have to say it sounds a bit unfair to penalise Serco when the vessel they had to use breaks down. Must admit that I have been wondering if Serco got the contract with a low bid meaning all they hoped to do this time was to break even in order to have experience when bidding for other routes. Just a thought.My heart really bleeds for them "Announcing pretax profits up 27% to £302m, Serco said its operating margin has grown from 6.2% to 6.4%." The fine is to protect our money i.e. the government grant of £35 million they get to run the service. Would agree with all anti Serco points were it not for the fact that the ferry they have to use is not theirs. Owned by the government or the government's bank yet if it breaks down Serco are being penalised. Will the reverse be true and Serco get extra costs refunded when they find a replacement vessel they can charter. Or will the government fine be simply reclaimed from the costs they have to pay to use the vessel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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