Gavin Morgan

4 July, 2008

NORTHLINK Ferries insist they will have enough new livestock containers in place to cover Shetland and Orkney’s agricultural industry’s peak selling season this year.

In May the company started rolling out the first of their 48 new, two tier livestock containers, which are costing them £2.2 million.

Twenty have been delivered so far. NorthLink say they need 24 to cover the busy autumn season and will have 29 in place when it begins, and 37 by the time it ends.

However Shetland’s NFU president Hazel Mackenzie is worried that local producers could lose out due to concerns about availability on Orkney.

“What we hear is that they are not going to have the promised amount ready in time for the shipping season,” Ms Mackenzie said.

“If NorthLink came with the containers then we would be OK, but Orkney is kicking up a fuss so we think we might lose some of them.”

Shetland and Orkney producers will meet NorthLink next Wednesday with representatives of ZetTrans to clarify what is going on.

ZetTrans development manager Ken Duerden said that meeting is to try to find a common way forward.

“The concern is from the Orkney livestock movers that they would not get the benefit of the two tier floats. They feel they are being disadvantaged,” Mr Duerden said.

NorthLink said they will have enough new double deck containers for “virtually all” Shetland and Orkney’s sheep, but expect to use single deck containers for some of Orkney’s cattle.

They said there were not enough Orkney sheep to fill all the top decks if they had all the new containers for all Orkney cattle.

A spokesman said next week’s meeting was about schedules and pricing rather than any shortfall in capacity.

The new containers can hold 100 sheep and 24 cattle or 200 sheep and can provide a continuous water and food supply to animals during passage times through an integrated system.

NorthLink officials plan to display the new equipment at Shetland’s Cunningsburgh Show on 13 August, as part of a tour of major industry shows which will also take in Aberdeenshire and Orkney.