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19 January 2010
FERRY operators NorthLink have rescheduled their maintenance
programme for the three ships they use to serve the northern
isles so that new stabilisers can be fitted.
NorthLink already had to replace faulty stabilisers on
Hrossey in 2006 and Hamnavoe last year, but now
these ferries and Hjaltland will be fitted with a new
design produced by the manufacturer Mitsubishi.
As a result the company’s vessel survey programme has been
put back by two weeks. Instead of starting on 30 January,
Hamnavoe will be in dry dock from 14 to 28 February,
Hrossey from 7 to 22 March, and Hjaltland from 11
to 24 April.
The company apologised for any inconvenience and said 39
passengers whose sailing plans have been affected by the
changes have had their trips rescheduled.
Shetland will have to put up with just one vessel serving
the isles during the refit |
programme, as the
Hjaltland will cover the Pentland Firth route while the
Hamnavoe is out of service.
The company said it was making sure the
northbound sailing from Aberdeen to Lerwick on 1 March is
retained to tie in with the Shetland schools’ mid term
break.
NorthLink are also maintaining their popular “weekend break”
sailings, by having southbound sailings from Shetland on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and northbound trips on
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
During this period NorthLink’s two freight vessels will
modify their schedule to allow up to 12 passengers to travel
on off days, while maintaining a regular freight service.
The new freighter Shield is expected to start operating
within the next month.
A NorthLink spokesman said the company was “content” with
the way the stabiliser issue had been resolved by the
manufacturer.
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