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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?

    • Aberdeen
      223
    • Rosyth
      102
    • Peterhead
      11
    • Barbados
      125


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OK, how about:

Lerwick - Aberdeen - Rosyth - Aberdeen - Lerwick :?:

 

I'm pretty sure this has been covered before on here, so i'll just give the quick response, but I reckon just now you could drive off the boat in Aberdeen at 7am, Be in edinburgh by 10 at the latest. Taking a train/bus, would probably get you there by 11.

 

Give the boat an hour to discharge/load and 4 hours to get to Rosyth, an hour to get to Edinburgh and you get there at 1 o clock.

 

Will there be enough passengers/cargo who want to pay the extra to take the slow route to justify the extra fuel, harbour charges, second crew (cos you cant work the existing crew round the clock) to make it worthwhile?

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^^^ Looks like the boat's on the verge of being cancelled tonight :( Seems I'll be making an unscheduled stopover in Aberdeen.

 

Aberdeen Departures Under Review

 

Updated on Friday 19th December at 09:45

 

M.V. Hrossey arrived in Aberdeen at 06:50.

 

 

Due to adverse weather conditions the sailing at 19:00 from Aberdeen to Lerwick has been cancelled.

Saturday 20th December

 

Due to adverse weather conditions the service from Aberdeen to Kirkwall and Lerwick is currently under review. A decision will be made Saturday morning.

 

Sunday 21st December

 

Advanced weather forecast is indicating poor conditions, possible sailing disruptions

 

For more information contact 0845 6000 449.

 

 

Til monday possibly!!

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Not a weekend for the ferry I think, below from Metoffice.

 

Fri 19 Dec

 

1200 Sunny intervals 6°C SW 22 mph Excellent

1500 Sleet 6°C S 32 mph 49 mph Good

1800 Heavy Rain 5°C S 45 mph 69 mph Poor

2100 Heavy Rain 8°C SSW 40 mph 74 mph Poor

 

Sat 20 Dec

 

0000 Light Rain Shower 8°C W 37 mph 85 mph Excellent

0300 Light Rain Shower 6°C WNW 46 mph 82 mph Excellent

0600 Light Rain Shower 6°C WNW 39 mph 68 mph Excellent

0900 Light Rain Shower 6°C WNW 30 mph 60 mph Excellent

1200 Light Rain Shower 7°C WNW 39 mph 49 mph Very Good

1500 Clear Sky 7°C WNW 31 mph 42 mph Very Good

1800 Partly cloudy 7°C WNW 21 mph 33 mph Very Good

Night Heavy Rain 5°C SSW 16 mph Poor

 

Sun 21 Dec

 

Day Heavy Rain Shower 10°C SW 37 mph 53 mph Poor

Night Heavy Rain Shower 6°C WNW 45 mph 73 mph Poor

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^^^To be honest, if they don't sail at all this weekend they're making life very hard for themselves.

 

I'm not just talking about the complaints from customers that will arise from this action. They'll also have to try and find space for people bumped off the cancelled sailings. I phoned the office in Orkney earlier to confirm that, if the boat does sail tomorrow night (fingers crossed), I'd have a bed, because on tonight's boat I was supposed to be in a four-berth cabin. I'm a student and the total I paid for this luxury was just over £90, so it didn't come cheap. The woman on the phone (who was very polite given how stressed out they must be there) confirmed that I'd been put in a bed in a cabin but that the sailing for tomorrow had already been full before tonight's one was called off. There are also still a number of students who haven't gotten home yet for the festive - in my case I was supposed to be home for ten days but it's likely it'll be no more than nine now :(

 

To conclude, if sailing is at all possible tomorrow then they should. This is a pretty crap time of year to be cancelling the ferry...

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Guest Anonymous

You just hay tae tak your chances we the weather when you byde in dis neck o da woods , it's a pity de winna give lodgins aboard and fre food and drink till sailing time .. however lately when travellin on the ferry there never seems to be any "good crack " I have much fonder memories of the p&o days and still refer to da boat as da clair .

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In fairness to Northlink, they do provide a lifeline service:

 

lifeline - support that enables people to survive or to continue doing something (often by providing an essential connection)

 

As much as I feel for sassermaet and others who are trying to get home for Christmas, it is always best to err on the side of caution.

 

I do however agree with the above post. They could at least offer customers a bed for the night as compensation for any inconvenience. Having to find and pay for accomodation in Aberdeen, and then traipse there with luggage or fork out for an extortionate taxi fare is an unnecessary burden not to mention cost, particularly at this time of year, and particularly for students.

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Name me another ferry service in the country/world that'll provide free accomodation as it's cancelled it's departure due to bad weather?

 

Living on an island has it's plus points and it's bad points - this just happens to be one of the downsides - if you don't like it you have options.

 

The captain of the ferry is qualified and experienced to make decisions about when to sail and when not to sail - you have to respect that decision.

 

And don't keep harking back to the old P&O days, they were very lucky once or twice not to have a disaster on their hands sailing when they should have known better.

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