The Orcadian Features - Captain Fred Johnston

Captain Fred Johnston
(From The Orcadian dated September 26, 2002)

Captain Fred Johnston who was master of the St Sunniva from 1987 until he retired in 1994. Prior to that, he was master of the St Magnus from 1981-87.

Captain Fred Johnston has had many years service on the North Boats and was master of the St Magnus from 1981-87 and the St Sunniva from 1987, until he retired in 1994.

He noted the advances in technology which have taken place over the years, dating back to 1967 when the former City of Dublin was bought by the North of Scotland Shipping Company and renamed the St Magnus.

He described his most embarrassing journey as the maiden voyage of the St Sunniva in April 1987, when he was skipper.

He said: “I’ve done worse trips. But the wind was blowing gale force eight or nine. It was the middle of the night. We were heading up from Aberdeen to Lerwick, where a group of VIPs were waiting to attend the naming ceremony, including the chairman of P&O, Lord Geoffrey Sterling. A wall of water struck the bridge windows and they broke with the impact. I’m convinced there must have been something in the water. But we had to turn and go back to Aberdeen, so the planned ceremony didn’t take place in Lerwick and the company flew everybody down to Aberdeen instead.

“One good thing that came out of that incident, though – they did put stronger plate glass in the windows from then on.”

Another occasion which stood out in his mind was when a number of Orkney farmers were aboard the St Sunniva heading for the Perth Bull Sales, but because of bad weather the ship did not dock in Aberdeen harbour until 3pm, by which time they had missed most of the sale.

Captain Johnston referred to the other work which ferry crews were involved in, including exercises with the lifeboats and other emergency services.

“It is impossible to call something a textbook rescue. You have to practise for all aspects of lifesaving and possible scenarios, otherwise you would just have a textbook to follow. It is the crews’ local knowledge and expertise which is vital in these situations.”

Captain Johnston said that he saw a marked difference in the operation of the North Boats when P&O took over the North of Scotland Shipping Company.

“I noticed a massive change. Under the North of Scotland, all the crews were local and it was like a family company. Then, all of a sudden, the P&O system was introduced and it was probably a more efficient way of working, but also more impersonal.”

Captain Johnston ended with the comment: “I prefer the Saints’ names for the ferries. Who is going to be able to pronounce Hrossey or Hjaltland, let alone remember them in the same way as they do with the Ola or the Sunniva?”