Earl Thorfinn to head to dry dock to repair leak

A leak discovered in the hull of the Earl Thorfinn will require the vessel to head to Fraserburgh for dry dock repairs.

Following remote initial inspection on Wednesday, by Lloyds class surveyors, it’s been confirmed by Orkney Islands Council that Earl Thorfinn will head south for repairs on a “small area of localised corrosion in the bow thruster room”.

A council spokeswoman said: “Orkney Ferries is currently awaiting confirmations from the surveyors with regards to arranging an on-site pre-sailing survey, to enable the vessel to sail to dry dock in Fraserburgh for these minor repairs.

“Assuming good weather and no further complications the vessel could be back in Orkney in service by mid-week next week.”

The issue has forced Orkney Ferries to switch to a two-vessel operation covering the North Isles.

The ferry operator has also issued a statement to customers, advising them of the arrangements during the period of disruption.

The statement read: “We are currently in the process of contacting the remainder of Saturday customers who have had their sailings affected. Once this is complete, we will publish the revised sailing times for Saturday.

“We will then move on to the Sunday bookings and will make contact with all affected customers today. Once this is complete, we will publish the revised sailing times.

“We are expecting to have the Earl Thorfinn back in service on Thursday, July 28.

“Sailings between Monday, 25 and Wednesday, July 27, are in the process of being amended on our booking system. Unfortunately, we are unable to take any vehicle bookings for this period until all the previously booked customers have been allocated a space and we have contacted those affected.

“We will publish further updates as soon as they are available. Orkney Ferries would like to thank their customers for their patience and understanding and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”