News and Updates

We regret to advise customers that the following Nordic Sea sailings are cancelled.

Monday 10^th August – 14:00 departure to Stronsay, Sanday and Eday

Tuesday 11^th August – 06:15 departure to Sanday and Eday

This is due to a requirement for minor repair work.

Nordic Sea services will resume as scheduled from 1430 on Tuesday 11^th August

We would like to remind our North Isles customers of changes to most our timetables on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th August for the Stronsay.

Please see our Sailings for Special Events | Orkney Ferries page for full information regarding timetable changes

Bookings must be made and paid for in advance for these sailings to ensure a confirmed space onboard

We would like to remind our customers, the sailing to North Ronaldsay will sail on Friday 14th August due to the timetable change made for the Stronsay Massive on Saturday 15th .

Gather for this sailing will take place on Thursday between 08:00 and 12:00, and the time of departure will be confirmed on Thursday afternoon.

Our morning sailings to Eday, Sanday and Stronsay on Friday will be combined to a 3-isle service and the times for this can be found below:

Depart Kirkwall: 07:00

Arrive Stronsay: 08:40

Depart Stronsay: 08:55

Arrive Sanday: 09:30

Depart Sanday: 09:40

Arrive Eday: 10:00

Depart Eday: 10:10

Arrive Kirkwall: 11:25

We would like to remind our Westray customers of changes to our timetable on Friday 14th August due to the timetable change made for the Stronsay Massive on Saturday 15th.

Our AM sailing to Westray will now sail to the following times:

Depart Kirkwall: 07:20

Arrive Westray: 08:45

Depart Westray: 09:00

Arrive Kirkwall: 10:25

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 passengers that the 07:40 and 12:50 departures have limited passenger spaces.

This is due to the carriage of dangerous goods and our requirement to comply with legislation.

Advance booking is advised as we are unable to guarantee travel for unbooked passengers, bookings can be made online, in person or by calling our offices.

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.

Due to a failure of one of the bow thrusters on board the Hoy Head identified during annual refit, the vessel will continue in service with some restricted operability in certain prevailing weather conditions with a single bow thruster in operation as it has done over the last few weeks.

This will unfortunately continue to have an impact on some sailings that may have been possible otherwise with both bow thrusters operable.

Considering the long lead time for replacement parts which are now on order and scheduled to be delivered to us in around 10-12 weeks, we considered that it was better to have the vessel return to service operating on the Hoy route throughout the busy spring and summer period albeit with the potential of some increased disruption due to the restrictions outlined above.

We plan to operate the vessel throughout the summer period on the scheduled service until such time that we have taken delivery of the required parts to complete the repair. When the repair to the Hoy Head is being completed and the vessel is out of service the MV Thorsvoe will return to cover as relief vessel on the route.

If there is any potential improvement to the timescales for the delivery of parts and the completion of the repair, we will share this information in due course. We apologise in advance to our customers for any inconvenience that will be caused because of this over the summer period and thank you for your patience in this matter.

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.