News / Shetland rails against ferry cutbacks
SHETLAND needs more time to understand the impact a £1 million cut in the ferry budget would have on the local economy.
The islands’ core industries have called on the Scottish government to give them longer to assess what damage could be done by slower journeys and a single passenger ferry in the winter.
They also want to look at ways of improving the service to increase revenue rather than make cuts that could trigger a possible downward spiral that would cost more than it would save.
Transport minister Stewart Stevenson gave no warning when he announced 12 days ago that ferry operator NorthLink must run its Shetland service on two rather than four engines to make immediate savings of £300,000, with further talks to find another £700,000 on the winter service.
Orkney and Shetland cried foul, and last Wednesday won an apology from government officials and a working group was set up to find alternative ways of saving money.
The twin engine option would add 1.5 hours to the four north and three south bound journeys that go via Kirkwall every week.
The haulage industry has warned leaving Aberdeen earlier than 5pm would cause havoc with loading times for goods coming north from the central belt, while passengers say it would cut a working day on the mainland too short.
As an alternative for saving fuel, hauliers and the fish industry suggested doing away with 7pm departure times on the direct run between Lerwick and Aberdeen.
The idea of saving £300,000 by an across the board fare increase of 1.6 per cent was frowned upon, even though it would add just 55p to a single passenger fare, £2 to a car journey and £9 for a single 16.5 metre trailer. Fish exporters said they needed every penny to remain competitive.
Local industry has acknowledged that NorthLink’s new freighter Hildasay should alleviate some of their concerns, as it is more reliable and has greater capacity than its predecessor.
However the loss of a passenger ferry in the winter is being rejected as it removes the guarantee of getting goods to market every day, and could cause substantial problems for livestock shipments. Air passengers would lose a daily back up service in bad weather and the opportunity to lengthen the tourist season would go.
Hamish Balfour, of Shetland Transport, told Friday’s meeting of Shetland Islands Council’s external transport forum that the cuts being suggested would have no impact on Orkney, which already has 95 trips to and from the Scottish mainland, compared to Shetland’s 25.
Steve Henry, of Shetland Tourism Association, wondered if cuts could be made on the Pentland Firth where Pentland Ferries was successfully competing against NorthLink.
“I have heard that if he got the same subsidy as NorthLink he would run both crossings without charging passengers. I am sure if he got the chance he would put on another boat, so if they took the NorthLink boat off there would they not make a lot of savings?” Mr Henry asked.
NorthLink’s former commercial director Gareth Crichton, who now works with Streamline Shipping, said the government’s proposals left him “absolutely squirming” as they had not examined the possible impact of their cuts.
“This is absolutely crazy. This is not the right place to go looking for savings. There is a potential loss of revenue and the fact that this is going to start in the summer season makes that potential loss even greater,” he said.
Lerwick councillor Allan Wishart said the proposed cuts could end up costing a lot more than they were saving and called for a “min-STAG”, similar to the transport consultations the government has insisted on elsewhere.
“We are being shunted very quickly into a corner without adequate consultation or feedback and we should be looking for a bit more time,” he said, saying another meeting was needed with the government, NorthLink and Shetland MSP Tavish Scott.
David Sandison, of the fish farming trades association Shetland Aquaculture, added: “Our motorway is the ferry from Lerwick to Aberdeen and it’s our equivalent to the road system. It’s the only way for us to get goods to market and we have to get that message across rapidly.”
Orkney meets its stakeholders today (Monday) and both islands will submit their response to the government this afternoon.
The government originally wanted to impose twin engine sailing on 4 April, but agreed to NorthLink’s request for it to be delayed until 4 May.
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