Kavi Ugl Posted August 1, 2010 Report Share Posted August 1, 2010 Hello Shetlinkers. I have just come across this news item on The Shetland News website and it's a petition calling for the Scottish Government to fund and allow NorthLink/the next operator to operate a summer service between Lerwick and Bergen. Please, please sign the petition if it's something you are interested in. http://www.shetlandmarine.com/2010/08%20Shipping/Petition%20to%20reinstate%20sailings%20to%20Norway.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted August 1, 2010 Report Share Posted August 1, 2010 Nae offence, but.... Mr Irvine said......“We have far closer links with Norway than what we have with Scotland..... .....[Mr Irvine].....plans to present the petition to Scottish government officials.... Yup, they're going to lap it up, not. "We're no laek you, bit we wid laek you ta pey fur a boat fur wis, sae is wi can geen an see dem its mair laek wis". Lead, and balloon that one I'm afraid. A pity, as I think its an idea worth exploring and trying to develop, but Scot's'll never pit a penny in it, politically unattractive if not unwise. It might give us rebellious or revolutionary ideas. Had the council had the wit to have invested the money they put in to the Norrona in a modest, and I can't emphasis "modest" strongly enough, vessel simply to ply weekly, or twice weekly to Norway and back, we could have been no worse off, and *maybe* we might still have had some sort of direct connection right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted August 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Yeh, I think I'd have played it a peerie bit more carefully but hats off to him for trying. I've read most of the comments on the petition and I have to say there's some very well reasoned and thought out comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted August 2, 2010 Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 ^^ Good on him for trying, definitely. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'll sign it as soon as I have a chance, but I don't expect anything to come of it. Had the last lot still been in, with Tavish in charge of transport, there might have been a chance of twisting his arm enough to have gotten something out of it. With nationalists though, unless they can see a direct benefit to themselves and/or their cronies in their "safe" seats, it'll go straight through the shredder. Of course, if big Dave were to lend his weight to it as the possible next Shetland SNP candidate, and make something come of it, he might just earn enough support so as not to lose his deposit at election time. What happened with John White's Scandinavian sea connection plans? I vaguely recall hearing they got knocked back by the EU for funding the first time due to some admin issues or the likes, but there were plans to re-submit the application. Did the EU kill it off, or did it die a death some other way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted August 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Yeh, Scottish Executive/Government politics is probably the biggest single(only?) hindrance to it but at least this will show the strength of feeling and if they do bin it, it will be seen for what it is no matter how they try to dress it up. Not sure what happened to J. Whites plans but missing the deadline for applying for funding had something to do with it I think. I personally feel that scrapping the Orkney calls to one a week would free up the money for a Bergen summer link with money to spare.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david Posted August 2, 2010 Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 I'm all for a Lerwick - Bergen link, we used the Norrona every year between 98 and 05 but I can't see it happening wth Northlink in the current setup. Northlink are needing to save money, not spend more. They need to reduce calls to Orkney without using the money to invest in another route. There would also need to be a Lerwick - Aberdeen round trip taken out so the boat could go to Bergen, which I could see a lot of people not being in favour of. The only way it would work was if Northlink chartered an extra boat during the summer. One that could provide extra trips on the Aberdeen Lerwick route meaning everyone could get a cabin. It could then head over to Bergen on one of the days. But that would cost money, something nobody has. The Norrona continues to sail right through Yell Sound every week. Another attempt to convince Smyril on the summer months only? None of those ridiculous 2 calls a week in the middle of winter. That's where it went wrong. But Smyril dropped Bergen as well as Lerwick and as soon as that happened they went into profit. Did Lerwick Harbour trust not just upgrade the Holmsgarth pier as well? Allowing bigger vessels to tie up? What's their thinking there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted August 2, 2010 Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Lerwick-Hanstholm would do me, notice smyril still say they do the route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skunnered Posted August 2, 2010 Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Shetland isn't an SNP seat, so I doubt if we can expect any favours from the SNP Government. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted August 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 I still think that dropping all yon thundering to Orkney would save hundreds of thousands of pounds per year which in turn would easily pay for a July+August Bergen service. And even if one trip a week to Aberdeen was removed in favour of a Bergen one for two months in the summer why not?!. Even Bill Davidson admitted on the radio tonight that the Saturday sailings are not overly busy.... Put it this way, suppose the Saturday sailings from Aberdeen-Shetland consisted of *100* passengers but a Bergen-Shetland sailing consisted of *200* would it not make more sense to do the 200 persons route?. Over 2 months that would be an extra 1000 tourists brought into Shetland.... Bring it on!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted August 2, 2010 Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Who is Bill Davidson? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted August 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Who is Bill Davidson? he's the Chief Executive of NorthLink!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddrun Posted August 2, 2010 Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Why SUMMER service to BERGEN of all places !! ???There are direct flights between Bergen and Shetland in the summer, takes just one hour.....no more is needed there.....What could be needed was a once a week the whole year around service.Bergen might not be the best location...further north, Ã…lesund or Kristiansund would be sensible when it comes to freight, ...Kristiansund was the town spoken about in that route that was suggested a year or two ago...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted August 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Ja, ja, fair enough. I just think Bergen has come into the equation because that was the historic port of call. I dunna really care where it's at just as long as we get a connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skunnered Posted August 2, 2010 Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 Why SUMMER service to BERGEN of all places !! ???There are direct flights between Bergen and Shetland in the summer, takes just one hour.....no more is needed there.....Yeah, but I had a helluva job getting my car on the flight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted August 2, 2010 Report Share Posted August 2, 2010 ^^ Persuade Flybe to use an old Hercules for the flight. The original Ro-Ro plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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