Ferry Replacement Programme - Update

It’s been well documented that our Orkney Ferries fleet is ageing and in need of replacement.  Over a number of years, we’ve been engaging with Scottish Government to tackle this challenge, looking at how the Government might support the Council with its replacement plans.  

In November 2023 – through the Ferries Taskforce - the Scottish Government made funding available to the Council to build an agreed business case for ferry replacement, providing the resources required for work to scope out options and to carry out physical investigative works around Orkney’s pier and harbours infrastructure. 

Our teams have been working hard to progress the business case work. In the meantime discussions are ongoing through the Ferries Taskforce on the capital funding required for the replacement programme – and so everything is subject to funding being secured  

But what exactly has been happening – here's some detail: 

We hear through the local press and local updates that you’ve been working through Phase 1 of the Ferry Replacement Programme – what's involved in that? 

Phase 1 of the Ferry Replacement Programme has focused on the vessel outline design for the replacement Outer North Isles vessels serving Eday, Sanday, Stronsay and Westray.  

That outline design is for three large vessels, up to 60m in size, which must be compatible with the existing piers and harbours infrastructure. It is anticipated that the South Isles vessel - part of Phase 2 - will be comparable in size for interchangeability during drydock, providing added resilience across the network.  

We expect to complete Phase 1 in Autumn 2025 following a period of public consultation.  

The Council are going with a monohull conventional design, rather than a double ender or catamaran design – what led to that decision? 

We appointed Leadship Design and Consulting during 2023/24 to consider the Outer North Isles network and compare three vessel types against certain operational and technical criteria – or KPIs.  These were: 

 The work also included a seakeeping and operability report to identify the level of operability restrictions and indicate the level of reliability and resilience for each hull form in different environmental conditions. 

The specification also outlined that the new vessel design must be compatible with the existing piers and harbours infrastructure in the four Outer North Isles and Kirkwall. There are several benefits from doing this, including the viability of the financial ‘ask’ to Scottish Government and that the vessel replacement programme would be pushed back significantly if the vessel design was subject to significant infrastructure works on each island.  

What did the work of Leadship Design and Consulting find – and were the experienced Orkney Ferries crew involved too? 

The vessel types examined by Leadship Design and Consulting for the Outer North Isles network were:  

 An Orkney Ferries Operations Group was established involving the ships masters and Engineering personnel who, alongside Leadship, went through the results of the studies that had been completed. They applied a weighting to each of the performance indicators in order of importance as follows: 

 The results found that: 

 The total scores based on the results from each KPI group ranked the monohull first, the double ender second and the catamaran third.  

Remember, compatibility with the existing infrastructure is critical, which in turn dictates the maximum size of future vessels. Based on the maximum size criteria and compatibility with existing piers and harbours, the results showed that from an operational and passenger comfort perspective, the monohull design was most suitable for the Outer North Isles network.  

Were elected members involved in the decision-making process? 

On 11 March 2024, a Ferry Replacement Programme Seminar was held with Elected Members to outline the Review of Outline Business Case and Design Options Assessment This was later presented to the Development and Infrastructure Committee on 4 June 2024. An update was circulated to Community Councils and Transport Representatives in July 2024.  You can read more about that here - Committee recommendations an 'important step forward in our ferry replacement programme' 

What’s been happening since 2024? 

Following on from the work completed by Leadship Design and Consulting, the specification for Phase 1 of the Ferry Replacement Programme was developed during Autumn September 2024 to consider the Outer North Isles vessel tender design. This went out for competitive tender during October 2024 and following an evaluation process, was subsequently awarded to Knud E Hansen in December 2024.  

Knud E Hansen visited Orkney during January 2025 to consider the existing vessels, routes and infrastructure, noting that the outline vessel design must be compatible with the existing piers and linkspans in Kirkwall, Eday, Sanday, Stronsay and Westray.  

They then developed a General Arrangement, Vessel Fact Sheet, Berthing Drawings and 3D Concept Renderings of a first draft vessel as per the specification provided.  

Those preliminary designs have now been considered by Orkney Ferries crew, the Council’s Corporate Leadership Team (CLT), Board of Orkney Ferries, North Isles Councillors and the newly established Outer North Isles Taskforce Group which involves Community Council Chairs, Transport Representatives and Community Development Officers from Eday, Sanday, Stronsay and Westray.  

What do those preliminary designs include? 

Draft 1 of the outline vessel design is currently 60 metres in length, with seating for 190 passengers and carrying capacity of 34 cars or 10 HGVs, which is greater than the current carrying capacity of the largest of the three North Isles vessels, the  MV Varagen (length: 50 metres,142 passengers in summer/91 in winter and car carrying capacity 26/28 vehicles or 120 tonnes of freight if no cars carried).  

Key facilities and accessibility features include a lift from the car deck to the main deck, wheelchair seating points, changing places facility, recliner lounge, dining area, workstation with charge points, small quiet area, children’s play area, pet area and crewing accommodation.  

The draft outline vessel design is equipped with a flexible energy platform that suits present demand as well as allowing updates throughout the lifetime of the ship to suit green transition.  

Have those designs been consulted on yet? 

Consultation on the first draft outline design has been carried out as follows:  

We then fed back to the consultants at the end of March and provided a briefing to isles communities at the end of April 2025. 

What happens next – when can we see the designs and give our own feedback? 

This initial design will now go through extensive simulator testing with Orkney Ferries crew in various weather conditions to ensure that the design is compatible with the existing piers and harbours infrastructure. The outline vessel design will be subject to review to improve operability. 

The design will then be made available for public consultation to identify any areas of potential improvement. Following review, the consultants will present the proposed outline design to communities and elected members where any final adjustments/comments can be incorporated prior to completion of final drawings and technical documentation.  

The final outline vessel design will then be presented to the Development and Infrastructure committee and this will be used to carry out a procurement exercise for design and build, noting that the three vessels will be constructed in a phased approach.  

It is expected that the final outline vessel design will be considered by committee in early October 2025 with the procurement process expected to follow in December 2025.  

Contract award will of course be subject to funding. 

That sounds like a lot happening in a short space of time – what’s the timeline? 

The key project dates are as follows:  

What about the rest of the fleet - the inner isles and the South Isles? 

Following a competitive tender exercise, Phase 2 of the Ferry Replacement Programme was recently awarded in April 2025 to Arch Henderson.  

Phase 2 will consider the piers and harbours infrastructure works in tandem with the outline vessel design for Papa Westray and North Ronaldsay, Graemsay and Hoy, Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre, Shapinsay, Flotta and Hoy networks.  

The tender specification incorporates the Orkney Harbours Masterplan Phase 2 to avoid repetition of a review of piers and harbours infrastructure, considered under the Ferry Replacement Programme. The appointed consultants will bring a mix of civil and marine engineering expertise so that we reach outline design for both vessels and infrastructure in tandem 

When will the outline designs for the Phase 2 ferries – and the piers and harbours - be decided on?