Gales delay ferry sailing

Ferry passengers sailing south to Aberdeen tonight will have a long wait before the boat even leaves the harbour, thanks to today’s blustery weather and poor tidal conditions.

The 5.30 sailing of the Hrossey from Lerwick is only expected to leave Lerwick at 1am tomorrow morning.

She will only arrive at her scheduled stop at Orkney at 7.30am, and should berth in Aberdeen at half past two tomorrow afternoon.

Similarly, the harsh conditions have also forced delays on the northbound sailing to the isles.

The Hjaltland is not expected to leave Aberdeen until around 11pm, instead of the scheduled 7pm departure time. She should arrive at Holmsgarth at 9am tomorrow.

Check in and final boarding times are unchanged.

Meanwhile on the Pentland Firth, NorthLink say the 4.45pm sailing from Stromness and the 7pm service from Scrabster will operate, although slight delays are possible due to berthing in strong winds.

On the freight side the Hildasay left Kirkwall’s Hatston Pier at 9am this morning for her northbound journey to Lerwick. She is expected to berth here at 5pm.
But her planned 6pm sailing to Aberdeen has had to be called off.

Meanwhile the Helliar is currently berthed at Kirkwall and is expected to sail for Aberdeen at 11pm.