Scottish Government must get back to the table on ferry funding - as Orkney Ferries staff praised

The Chair of Orkney Ferries has praised the company's staff and crew for their practical response to ferry challenges this weekend - and issued a plea for the Scottish Government to 'get back to the table' for discussions on future ferry funding.

Councillor Mellissa Thomson, chair of the Orkney Ferries board and one of three elected members representing the North Isles, was speaking following a challenging weekend for the company, which saw not one but two ferries fall foul of issues.

On Friday, the Earl Thorfinn developed bow thruster issues and was taken out of service.

On late Saturday morning, the Earl Sigurd, which has been completing additional runs to deal with the loss of her sister ship, was in a minor collision with the 'Galt Buoy'.  With any damage needing to be assessed, she too was taken out of service.

The quick-thinking team at Orkney Ferries, then acted swiftly to remove the required bow thruster elements from the Sigurd, swapping them out for the damaged elements in the Thorfinn - allowing the Thorfinn to get on the move again by early Saturday evening.

Orkney Islands Council has been in talks over a number of years with the Scottish Government around funding for the ageing internal ferry fleet.  A taskforce was established by then Finance Minister John Swinney in December 2022 to look at the issue. The group met in January 2023, but following Mr Swinney’s resignation in March 2023 - and a number of other changes in the Scottish Government cabinet - the taskforce has not met again, despite repeated attempts by the Council - and talks have effectively stalled.

Councillor Thomson said: "Our crews - both shoreside and at sea - worked incredibly hard on Friday to deal with the issues from the Thorfinn, drafting in the Nordic Sea as a passenger only service and coming up with some creative timetabling to keep things moving as best they could.

"When the news came through on Saturday about the Sigurd, we could have been completely scunnered.  Some would have thrown in the towel in exasperation and accepted the situation as it was.  Not our team - they rolled their sleeves up, got their heads together and came up with a practical solution to keep the service running.  Parts were swiftly shifted from one Earl to the other - and we were back up and running as quick as we could - with our office staff doing a fantastic job in difficult circumstances, keeping our passengers up to date with what was happening.
 
"It shouldn't have to be like this though.  With every day, week, month and year that passes without a resolution, the resilience of our fleet is slipping away like sand in an egg timer - time is absolutely of the essence and the Scottish Government needs to get back to the table."

Council Leader James Stockan shares Councillor Thomson's frustrations.  He said: "Like Orkney Ferries, like my fellow councillors, like our isles communities, I too am exasperated with this situation. The focus of the Scottish Government simply seems to be elsewhere at the moment. 

The incidents came in a particularly busy weekend for the company with communities from across the North Isles converging in Stronsay for the annual North Isles sports, a much loved event in the isles summer events timetable.

“These issues are impacting on us as the tourist season is in full swing - with islanders relying on visitors to generate income and on the essential supplies of goods and services  - meaning that lengthy disruptions will impact on the sustainability of the isles communities.

“I'm highly disappointed that after an initial meeting with such incredible promise, this issue has not been  prioritised by the Scottish Government.  I wrote to the First Minister a few weeks ago and I'm still awaiting a reply. Our officers have been working hard in the background, but the dialogue can't progress further without direction from the politicians - things must get moving."

The North Isles ferry service will continue to run on an amended timetable until at least Wednesday this week - details can be found at www.orkneyferries.co.uk.
 
The incident involving the Sigurd has been reported to the MCA and MAIB and will be investigated accordingly