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The North Boat (Northlink ferries)


peeriebryan
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Where should the North Boat dock?  

447 members have voted

  1. 1. Where should the North Boat dock?

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you can carry alcohol but cannot consume it in the bar or cafe area I got searched and had a bottle of malt I had a huge fight with them and demanded to see a member of staff I was immediately allowed on the boat. The bottle was a present for someone but not the point if I want to have a tipple in my cabin thats my business

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  • 3 months later...

*Groan*, I see on the front page of this week's The Shetland Times "calls" for CalMac to be given the North Boats contract.

 

That really would be another nail in the coffin.

 

Can you imagine the welcome onboard and safety announcments given in both English and Gaelic?.

 

I better not joke.......

 

I never cease to marvel at the agenda our local media push dressed up as "news".

Edited by Kavi Ugl
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Ah, but they could be thinking in Gaelic.......  :thmbsup

 

Anyway, I don't think any private outfit should be just 'given' any contract. That's just cronyism.

 

Pity we can't get commercial operators such as Brittany Ferries interested, they've got their heads screwed on and are used to running longer distance ferries.

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CalMac ran it until Serco took over. Firstly in a joint venture with RBS, then on their own. Didn't hear any gaelic announcements then. 

I'm well aware of that and what a disaster it was.

 

The contract had to be disanulled and a new one put in place.

 

I just don't want to see black and white CalMac ships running the Shetland service.

 

Give it to Smyril Line with the stipulation of a two month summer link between Lerwick and Bergen provided in the contract.

Edited by Kavi Ugl
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CalMac ran it until Serco took over. Firstly in a joint venture with RBS, then on their own. Didn't hear any gaelic announcements then. 

I'm well aware of that and what a disaster it was.

 

The contract had to be disanulled and a new one put in place.

 

I just don't want to see black and white CalMac ships running the Shetland service.

 

Give it to Smyril Line with the stipulation of a two month summer link between Lerwick and Bergen provided in the contract.

 

 

 

Smyril Line?

 

You mean the ones who were happy for Shetland to spend a rake on upgrading the port facilities for them, only to see Smyril give them the finger and bypass Shetland completely?

 

pootle that, torpedo the barstards, I say.  :ph34r:

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Wheelsup, how do you know Smyril Line isn't interested?.  Serco isn't English, it's a multi-national conglomorate that shouldn't have been allowed near the contract.

 

As someone said to me a few months ago, awarding it to Serco was just a hatchet job by the Scottish Government.  In other words getting Serco to do the dirty work of slashing costs to the bone. 

 

I don't see many Shetlanders employed on the actual North Boats nowadays.  I'm not saying there's none, but Shetlanders are a minority of the crew.

 

Scorrie, yes, the Smyril Line that has paid a dividend to Shetland in excess of £200,000 over the past two/three years. 

Edited by Kavi Ugl
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Scorrie, yes, the Smyril Line that has paid a dividend to Shetland in excess of £200,000 over the past two/three years. 

 

So, if we'd left the money just sat in an account at 2%, we'd have made £180,000 in the last 3 years. Plus the interest from the previous years on top of that. So it's not really generous at all.

 

I don't know what our stake in Smyril is worth now compared to when we invested, maybe we'll do OK out of that - if we sell up. But I seem to recall our position weakening after the Faroese Govt had to step in and bail out Smyril at one point.

 

I could be completely wrong and stand to be corrected, Kavi. But that's how it seems to me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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