s1mon Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Just a little reply to my previous post regarding Northlink Ferries / Serco.I emailed them to tell them about the issues, and I have had an exceptional reply, with an apology for the issues that occured, and a voucher for when we return via the Northlink. Thank you very much to the Customer Service Team at Northlink - We will be back soon! Muppet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian.smith Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 (edited) Can someone clarify to which islands is the Northboat classified as a life line service. I am unsure as Orkney has Hamnavoe Edited December 18, 2014 by brian.smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 I sometimes wonder if Northlink is a lifeline service to Serco profits. Orkney has it service from Scrabster and also the Pentland Ferries service. brian.smith 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian.smith Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 (edited) cheers I wondered as I couldnt see the point in the sailing to Kirkwall tonight I know it wont be good on the sea out there but one boat sailing south the other going to kirkwall kinda begs the question why they couldnt have sailed north at a slower speed to at least maintain the lifeline service and missed out kirkwall Edited December 18, 2014 by brian.smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsy Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 bloody hopeless,westerly wind and they cant make a passage,bring back Capt barnes,havin sailed as crew man on the ferrys we never once stayed in port with westerly winds,se/e winds was always the problem,having left early there now diddling to Aberdeen at 13 knots so they arrive at 7am Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ll Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 (edited) It's likely the next best thing to a double non-sailing as far as putting the boats out of sync. goes. Anyone can say what they want, but the skippers will work things to suit themselves so as they never a day late for their crew change in Aberdeen. In some ways you can't blame them, it's just a shame that a lifeline service is compromised as a result. In the good old bad old days, P & O would maybe stay in port with over a force 10, but when we are getting cancellations with a force 7, it makes you a bit worried about the capabilities of the service. If you are going to be paid £800k per week to run the North Isles services regardless of whether they are actually run, the savings of 100 tonnes of fuel per day keeping their fleet alongside will be very welcome to Serco in their current situation. Whilst easy for 'pier skippers' to criticise, when you see a relaively small 16 metre fishing (Noronya) vessel @ 138 GRT steaming at their normal full steaming speed NW of Orkney on live AIS charts as well as a fleet of other much smaller vessels, it would be reasonable to expect that the Hrossey, 8 times the length and nearly 12,000 GRT would maybe manage to make a passage? Maybe have to bring her recently retired captain back for the winter runs! Edited December 18, 2014 by ll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 (edited) I agree, I always have the upmost respect for the officers and crew but there's something funny here when, as II says, small fishing boats and other vessels are coming and going in the area without any problems. I saw the small Norwegian fishing boat "Geir" coming towards Shetland this morning from the east with a destination of Newfoundland(no less!) and tonight she's chugging away north west of Fair Isle...... Edited December 18, 2014 by Kavi Ugl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorrie Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR937 Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 It seems deeply suspicious to me that Serco are making "weather" decisions at least 24hrs before the "weather" is due , as we all know the weather predictions in Shetland change by the hour so to make a call so early is unwise at best . Also find it strange that they would even have this service withdrawal as the forecast isn't even that bad , force 7 at worst with occasional stronger gusts , certainly shouldn't be too much for a "lifeline" service . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ll Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Rather than avoid straightforward one night cancellations, favourite tricks are: 1) Double non-sailings 2) Half-leg sailings by one vessel 3) Sailing by one vessel and instead of sending back the ferry that has been tied up for a day, return the one that has made the passage. You can go on the Aberdeen harbour arrivals web pages and look back as far as you wish and you will not find any skippers crew change days missed at Aberdeen. Only exceptions to this are durig dry dock periods, when the 'St. Clair sailing schedule' (six legs per week) is adopted. Like I say, cannot blame skippers and crews wanting to get home when they are meant to, but its a pity when a a lifeline service is compromised as a result. The costs and logistics of a crew change for inbound and outbound crews of 40 x two vessels flown in and out of Shetland are obviously out of the question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suuusssiiieee Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Hrossey alongside in Hatston since last night until 11:45 tonight, yet again Shetland treated as second class. So looking into the future when bigger ferries come along with the Nigg Bay development is this habit to keep dodging trips to guarantee a vessel being in the correct position going to continue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 (edited) Scorrie seems to find something funny but I stress again that I have the upmost respect for the officers and crews. I also know that Serco are destroying the service with, and I quote, "many of the crew have left" and the remaining ones deeply, deeply demoralised. The feeling is that Serco are trying to make life as hard as possible so people leave and they can then employ cheap foreign workers. As someone pointed out to me, the Scottish Government have used Serco to do the dirty work. Edited December 19, 2014 by Kavi Ugl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorrie Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Scorrie seems to find something funny but I stress again that I have the upmost respect for the officers and crews. I also know that Serco are destroying the service with, and I quote, "many of the crew have left" and the remaining ones deeply, deeply demoralised. The feeling is that Serco are trying to make life as hard as possible so people leave and they can then employ cheap foreign workers. As someone pointed out to me, the Scottish Government have used Serco to do the dirty work. Believe me, Kavi, there is nothing in your post that I can disagree with regarding service and conditions. It is the same old 'Master Mariners' lurching up off the seabed to spout briny, seaweed encrusted pish regarding what skippers should be doing that leaves me helpless with laughter. Yaaaaar..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Ah, okay, apologies for taking your post the wrong way. It just grieves me what the Scottish Government/Serco are doing to the crews and service. From drunken louts to non-sailings to uncomfortable ships the only way it would be worse is with foreign crews ..... Scorrie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ll Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Believe me, Kavi, there is nothing in your post that I can disagree with regarding service and conditions. It is the same old 'Master Mariners' lurching up off the seabed to spout briny, seaweed encrusted pish regarding what skippers should be doing that leaves me helpless with laughter. Yaaaaar..... 'The black pot kettle the calling': MAKE A SENTENCE! Even more helpless with laughter!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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