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NorthLink lose ferry contract


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I often have to go away at short notice and am not always sure of the date I will be returning north, therefore the best option for me is the boat rather than the plane.

 

If Serco change the fare structure to more like booking the plane then that's a big blow.

 

Unless of course the top price remains the same as we have now and folk are encouraged to book early and get a good discount! How likely is that though?

 

Time will tell - we have to give them a chance.

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i dont recal a day trip to orkeny, the boat arrived at stromness at 8pm and sailed at 10pm (if memory serves correct) id far rather be able to work my friday, jump on the boat go to orkney and have the whole of next day to do with as i please rather than 2 hrs in stromness which only really allowed for a chippy! anyway in this day and age of security it would never be possible anymore.

 

hope the crew and shore staff are all able to transfer over on the same rates or better that they have now. as for forigen crew, welcome to the shipping industry as a whole anyone working as ships crew is always at risk of being replaced by a cheaper alternative, sad but true

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northlink are damned id they do damned if they dont, if boat sails in bad weather folk complain,if they dont sail because of bad weather folk complain, longest i have been on northboat is 42 hours,i was one of the 87,that finished up in rosyth a couple of years ago

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I think I know how Serco got the ferry contract. As an operator of private prisons, they're already used to dealing with massive overcrowding in substandard conditions, people being served terrible food and a roaring trade in drug smuggling.

 

It's obvious.

 

:lik:

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prison food isnt all that bad you know i once went to a charity bbq where all the grub was provided by prison service kitchens, lovely stuff big burgers that would cost a fortune in the butchers big juicy chickens and all sorts, now hospital food on the other hand thats what you might come to expect on the boat in future.

 

seriously tho how do you know they wont be any use just becuase youve heard the name? the staff will al be transfered over. serco will effectively become just management seeking to streamline the costs and improve service and increase passanger & commercial traffic numbers whats wrong with that?

 

Or are we doing that typical shetland thing of having a bloody good moan about everything and anything? remeber northlink where the ones you loved to hate!

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One thing Serco are good at is hiring "expertise" when they do not have it in house. And of course they will not be looking at winning the contract for 6 years and losing it due to poor performance. So do not abandon all hope just yet!.

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Kavi this is just what we did not need Streamline saber rattling for the juicy £243 million carrot dangling, this could get messy!

 

Engineer21 obviously there was a day trip if the boat arrived in at 8pm (ie noon departure aka St Sunniva Wednesday & Friday) but that was the fun bit having a dram or two on the way south, live music/session in the bar and generally having a good jolly, landing in Orkney (to stay) at a decent time as opposed to now - remember getting there is half the fun so they say.

 

Nowadays your bored rigid on the north boats as they dunna have sod all "entertainment".

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If, and I do mean if, the Scottish Government have followed the correct procedures in awarding the contract to Serco then neither they, nor Serco nor the people of Shetland have anything to worry about. Serco do have a fair bit of experience in running all sorts of contracts and could easily hire in some expertise. Streamline run a single chartered ship and have no experience at all in passenger ferries.........and the Woolwich ferry does carry passengers.

 

meanwhile I presume that there is some sort of fall back procedure available so that Northlink and continue running the service if the whole tender procedure has to be run again.

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If, and I do mean if, the Scottish Government have followed the correct procedures in awarding the contract to Serco then neither they, nor Serco nor the people of Shetland have anything to worry about. Serco do have a fair bit of experience in running all sorts of contracts and could easily hire in some expertise. Streamline run a single chartered ship and have no experience at all in passenger ferries.........and the Woolwich ferry does carry passengers.

 

meanwhile I presume that there is some sort of fall back procedure available so that Northlink and continue running the service if the whole tender procedure has to be run again.

 

The contract award is in standstill which is designed to allow those that did not get the contract to challenge the award. Streamline's action is nothing but standard procedure. SGOV must now prove that they followed due process and explain why Serco came out on top. Essentially they have to do a recount of the original decision and then explain it to Streamline. No conspiracy -just EU public procurement or as those of us that have gone this type of process call it, normal working practice.

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