News and Updates

We have reviewed the operational experience of the MV Toplander over the last week, and as a result we can now reduce the scheduled sailing times on this service.

A revised timetable will operate from Monday 31^st August.

We have contacted those customers who have been affected by a change to their sailing time.

The service is available for car and small van bookings only and we can accommodate a maximum of 5 per sailing.

The number of passengers per car on this service is limited to 2 (driver plus one passenger), as the vessel certificate allows us to carry 12 persons including crew.

Passengers will be required to reverse their vehicle and will need to remain in their vehicles while onboard.

These sailings are not available for foot passenger, motorcycle or bicycle bookings – any customers with these requirements should book on the normal scheduled service.

This service must be booked in advance through our customer service teams at Kirkwall and Houton.

We are unable to accept ‘show and go’ passengers on this service.

This revised timetable can be viewed on our website at Orkney Ferries | Timetables and Fares

We regret to advise that all sailings on the Nordic Sea are cancelled until further notice.

This is due to a technical issue that we are currently investigating.

Further updates will be provided when they are available.

As per our previous communication issued in April 2026, we would like to advise customers that the repair of the Hoy Head bow thrusters will now take place from Monday the 24th August in Stromness.

To complete the repairs, the Hoy Head will be out of service from Sunday 23rd at 15:00. Repairs are expected to take 3 weeks.

The MV Thorsvoe will operate the regular Houton Lyness and Flotta timetable starting from the 15:00 Lyness departure.

Due to the operational speed of the MV Thorsvoe, there may be some delays to timetabled sailings on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We will be providing additional sailings on the MV Toplander between Houton and Lyness during this period to provide some additional capacity across all routes on the MV Thorsvoe.

The timetable can be viewed at http://www.orkneyferries.co.uk/.../summer-2026-toplander...

The MV Toplander will be available from Monday 24th August until the Hoy Head returns to service.

The service is available for car and small van bookings only and we can accommodate a maximum of 5 per sailing.

The number of passengers per car on this service is limited to 2 (driver plus one passenger), as the vessel certificate allows us to carry 12 persons including crew.

Passengers will be required to reverse their vehicle and will need to remain in their vehicles while onboard.

These sailings are not available for foot passenger, motorcycle or bicycle bookings – any customers with these requirements should book on the normal scheduled service.

This service must be booked in advance through our customer service teams at Kirkwall and Houton.

We are unable to accept ‘show and go’ passengers on this service.

We would like to inform passengers that the 19:00 departure from Shapinsay to Kirkwall has been rescheduled to 20:00.

This is to facilitate travel for the Shapinsay darts competition.

We would like to advise that the M.V. Toplander will be providing additional cargo sailings to Papa Westray on Wednesdays and North Ronaldsay on Thursdays throughout the summer timetable.

Sailings are on demand only and the timings for these services are dependent on weather and tidal conditions and will be published the day before departure.

Gather times for these sailings will be the same time as the normal gather time on a Tuesday between 08:00 and 10:00.

Vehicles must be booked by contacting our Kirkwall office on 01856 872044.

Please note that the MV Toplander will depart for refit on 29^th June, therefore there will be no additional sailings from the 1^st – 9^th July inclusive.

We are pleased to be able to offer five late Saturday sailings over the summer period for Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre.

These are scheduled for 9^th May, 13^th June, 11^th July, 8^th August and 12^th September

Sailing times are as follows:

Depart Rousay 22:00

Depart Tingwall 22:35

Depart Rousay 23:10

Depart Wyre 23:20

Depart Egilsay 23:40

Arrive Rousay 23:55

Bookings can be made online, in person or by calling our offices.

These sailings are on request and must be booked and paid by 15:00 on the day of the departure or the service will not operate.

Orkney Ferries offers customers a way to receive disruption and cancellation messages to a smart phone or computer via Telegram.

Telegram is a free and simple messaging app with a focus on speed and security.

You can use Telegram on smartphones, tablets, and even computers. It’s very easy to use and only requires a name and mobile phone number to create an account.

To receive updates from please download the Telegram app from your app store, set up your account and then return to this page and select our unique link, which you can access by clicking here - Orkney Ferries Telegram Channel

Once on the channel you will be messaged with any updates on disruptions or cancellations in real time.

- Please note, Telegram is an internationally used social media site/app meaning users may be suspect to receiving spam messages from unknown accounts. When creating a profile to join our channel, be sure to set your Privacy and Security settings to limit Invites and Forwarded Messages.