Ferry delays while Serco legal documentation sorted out

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Serco yesterday, with its first sailings as new operator on the lifeline ferry routes, delayed.

It’s understood passengers onboard the Hamnavoe in Stromness were told that a delay in handing over official paperwork was the cause of the problem.

The vessel eventually left for Scrabster 45 minutes late. The Hrossey was also late leaving Aberdeen en route to Kirkwall.

A spokesman for Serco said: “The process of finalising all legal and operational documentation between all key parties took longer than anticipated which resulted in delayed departures this evening and we apologise for this.

“This documentation is now all in order and we look forward to a smooth operation going forward.”