The North Boat (Northlink ferries)

[Lapse Rate]

The very nature of a multihulled vessel such as the Pentilina means she will not be able to sail in as heavy weather as a single hulled vessel such as the Hamnavoe. Banks runs his boats on a pittence, last year the Pentalina B broke down off the coast of france due to banks' frugility.

[Mutton]

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/2010/September/news/NorthLink%20delays.htm

 

Oh here we go, Northlink have started their winter delays/cancellations/go slows early this year. I wonder why?

 

For those of us who need to use the ferry service on a regular basis this could well be a very long and frustrating winter.

[tirvaluk]

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/2010/September/news/NorthLink%20delays.htm

 

Oh here we go, Northlink have started their winter delays/cancellations/go slows early this year. I wonder why?

 

For those of us who need to use the ferry service on a regular basis this could well be a very long and frustrating winter.

Because of low tides in Aberdeen! Why else?

[glipper]

Whats wrong with some people on here dont they understand what like it is at the mouth off Aberdeen harbour with a SE gale and big ebbs it even said on the itv news about the conditions at the harbour..What are they to do ignore bad weather until there's a disaster and loss off life then you might have something to moan about ..!!!!!

[filskadacat]

Oh here we go, Northlink have started their winter delays/cancellations/go slows early this year. I wonder why?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11212358

 

This might have something to do with it.

[david]

The boat grounding, which is what would happen if it tried to leave in low tide and south easterly gales like there have been the last few days, would cost quite a bit to amend, and giving their already stretched budget I don't blame them for sailing late.

[Gorgonzola Butt-cheese]

Well we do live on an Island 60 dgs North, rough sea and uncertain transport timetables will always be part and parcel o' it.

I watch the boat head south last night and she wis diggin her nose intae a lump or twa.

I wid think there will be a good few spew bags this morning.

[Guest Anonymous]

Maybe if calmac/northlink hadn't decided to use boats that are totaly unsuitable we would not be discussing this every time there is a slight breeze.

Maybe if the numpties in Edinburgh had decided that P&O were the right company for the job given their experiance and track record we would not be discusing this every time there is a slight breeze.

Maybe if the numpties in edinburgh were not determined to give the contract to a company with a piss poor track record on routes to the western isles we would not be discussing this every time there is a slight breeze.

As for the tw#t from inversnecky writing in the P&J who reckons we are over subsidised compared to the western isles, this is only because that scoty company calmac/northlink made and are making a complete and utter hash of the job.

[Girzie]

Why don't people understand about the weather and tides in Aberdeen? It has been happening long before Northlink took over the run. I remember being stuck outside the harbour at Aberdeen, missing all connections and having to ring round to make other arrangements while a large tree trunk was stuck in the harbour mouth brought down by severe flooding and storms. We were given free breakfasts and lunches while we lay offshore and it all added to the childrens enjoyment of their holiday!

 

It's just life. You pays your money and you takes your chance!

[Guest Anonymous]

^^ yay , hes a hearing that Shetland is ower run wi folk at hasna a bloody clue aboot boats or da sea, Northlink/unholyrood ower run wi da tue taks apparently asweel

[Guest Anonymous]

well girzie I used the St Clair and the Sunniva up to a dozen times a year winter and summer and not once was I delayed due to weather, I reckon I've used northlink less than a dozen times since they took over and have been delayed twice, so something has changed since they took over.

some nights were very bumpy on the P&O boats but not once was I worried about not making it, can't say the same for northlink, bad design of ship, poor management, combination of both.

you mentioned one experiance of a massive log jamming aberdeen harbour entrance this hardly equates to the never ending round of delays we have now.

[paulb]

we have a friend who broke her back on one of those bumpy runs last year. its not going to improve is it really worth the risk.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm sorry for your friend Paulb but for christs sake get the point the ships are badly designed by calmacs leading designer, the weather is no worse now than 10 year ago if anything the last 10 years have seen less severe gales and more delays cancelations.

P&O were insistant that the boats were no damned use and I would say they were and are proved right every winter.

but hey they are an English company and we all know how Edinburgh feel about the English, which in my reckoning is why they were not afforded the contract.

Blatant bigotry towards the english and they couldn't give a flying f££k about us that live here in Shetland and Orkney.

That is where the problem stems from, not from extreme weather conditions.

[Guest SJP17]

Are we not stuck with these boats for the next ten years ? No matter who has the contract for the route ?

 

 

Also if Aberdeen harbour isnt suitable at times due to the tides should we not look to have the boat docking somewhere else ? Once your on the mainland you can commute by bus , car or train where ever you need to go

[Seaflech]

It's a good job there isn't a thread started up on here for every mode of transport that experiences some kind of delay during its normal operation.

I often wonder when I hear folk say that the Northlink ferries are appallingly unsuitable for the job, just what they envisage being used instead?

A coracle would be totally unsuitable, as would an oil tanker, but we have two passenger/freight ferries that are designed to, err, ferry passengers and freight. Given the geography of the North Sea and the Islands, the prevalent weather conditions we encounter, the harbour constraints of both Lerwick and Aberdeen and the fact that members of the public are being carried, is it any wonder that every now and again some delay or cancellation creeps in to cause some disruption to our lives? Blimey, even the space shuttle gets delayed because of weather, and you couldn't get a more purpose-built craft than that!

A lot has changed since the days when the good ol' Clair would get through come Hell or high water (or low water in this case). Firstly, for better or worse, we are steeped in a health and safety culture nowadays. Whether it's as an employer, an employee or a member of the travelling public, everybody is aware of H&S to a lesser or greater extent. To that end a shipping company conveying the public are far more cautious of the risks they take to limit the chance of anything going wrong, be it a broken big toe or the total loss of a ship.

Also, we expect far more these days. Things should run on time, all the time. We should be able to drive at the speed limit in any weather, and if a bit of snow gets in the way (and god knows it doesn't take much in the south east) then somebody's head needs to roll because Doris took 2 minutes longer to get the kids to school than she did yesterday. We have in a way become victims of our own technologically advanced selves - we simply cannot tolerate delay or failure without needing a damned good explanation.

Not long ago Northlink had to fit extra cabins to meet demand because there weren't enough available during peak times. This would suggest that the boat wasn't big enough, but this is the same boat that is too big to fit into Aberdeen harbour during certain conditions of weather and tide. Which is it to be - a bigger ship or a smaller one?

As long as Shetland is positoned 180 miles north of Aberdeen, and until the invention of the teleport, we will probably just have to accept that once in a while, our own schedules are going to be disrupted a little bit, and we will have to work round it.

 

Finally, and a bit of a thread creep with a hint of anorak - going back a few posts here, since when did SDZ become an airport code for Sumburgh, Scatsta or 'Shetland'?

Sumburgh = EGPB or LSI

Scatsta = EGPM or SCS.