Orkney Ferries’ handling of Varagen grounding praised

Orkney Ferries’ crews and office staff have been thanked for their “calm, reassuring and professional” response to the grounding of the Varagen ferry on Friday evening.

Orkney Ferries Chair, Councillor Mellissa Thomson, said the public response to the incident had been overwhelmingly positive from those who were on board.

Councillor Thomson said: “I’d like to pay tribute to the crew for their very professional response, which included a calm and reassuring manner – exactly what is required when there is an incident of this nature. I am in no doubt that this helped those on board and their families immensely.

“This efficient response by all involved – including office-based staff – is down to the standard of training which all work to. My thanks go out to all.

“We are all entirely grateful that this incident ended as well as it did with no reported injuries and we now await the outcome of the three inquiries into what happened.”

The Varagen ran aground 100m off Rapness pier in Westray on Friday evening. Thankfully, there were no reported injuries of the 41 passengers or ten crew on board.

There was no water ingress within the vessel or pollution outwith and the vessel was refloated and berthed at Rapness for passengers to disembark before being safely tug escorted back to Kirkwall in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The hull of the vessel has also been surveyed by divers for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency who will decide what - if any - action is needed before she can re-enter service.

A two-ferry service will be in operation in the meantime with booked passengers being informed. Updates will be provided.

Three investigations are ongoing into the grounding which is standard procedure in an incident of this nature.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch are conducting an inquiry, as well as internal investigations by Orkney Ferries and Orkney Harbours. The findings will be made in due course.

The Council’s Head of Marine Services, Transportation and Harbour Master, Jim Buck, said: “The staff handled the incident extremely well and ensured those on board were reassured following what must have been a frightening experience. The office staff rallied to deliver an efficient and professional service ensuring those who were travelling and due to travel were prioritised throughout.

“I would also like to offer my thanks to the travelling public who remained calm throughout, which made the crew’s role in keeping people as informed as they could much easier.”