 FLEET HISTORIES - Hamnavoe |
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Hamnavoe
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There is trace with the
“North Company” on the Pentland Firth route
that can be traced back to 1790. This unbroken chain (all
be it with numerous amalgamations, takeovers, etc) looked
likely to continue for the foreseeable future. In July
1997 this seemed justified when the Scottish Executive
again awarded the Northern Isles contract to operate
ferry services to and from Orkney and Shetland to P&O
Scottish Ferries until 2002.
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The first signs of a potential turn came
in July 1998 when the Scottish Office Minister of State,
Henry McLeish confirmed that Caledonian MacBrayne would
be allowed to tender for the new Orkney and Shetland
ferry contract. There right to do so had before been
questioned due to Caledonian MacBrayne being a state
owned company. Mr McLeish also indicated that the
Government would prefer new vessels to be built to serve
the Northern Isles service.
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In October 2000 (against general
predictions) the joint venture between Caledonian
MacBrayne and the Royal Bank of Scotland known as
NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries were announced as
preferred bidder to operate Northern Isles routes from
October 2002. NorthLink were finally confirmed by
Scottish Executive as the operators in December 2000. In
January 2001 NorthLink announced that the three new ships
to serve the Northern Isles routes would be built at the Aker Finnyards in Finland.
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Ametal cutting ceremony took place at the
yard on Monday 20 August 2001 to mark the beginning of
construction work on the ships. NorthLink’s then
Chief Executive John Horton set the build process in
motion by stamping the name of one of the vessels onto a
sheet of metal that is now incorporated into the ship.
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It became apparent very early into
NorthLink’s preparations that they were not going to
keep the naming tradition that spanned back to1867 with
the first St Magnus. The names of the four new
NorthLink ships it seemed were to be changed. The method
in which NorthLink set this process in motion was to
offer the public in Orkney and Shetland entry into a
competition to choose the future names of the ships.
Although the majority of entrants returned: “St
Ola”, “St Sunniva”, “St Clair”
and “St Rognvald” with variations, and
combinations of “St Magnus”, “St
Ninian” etc, new names were still selected. Many
islanders were deeply upset at this decision which was
not a good starting point for the new company and its
relationships with the communities they were to serve.
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On 23 August 2001 it was announced that
name for the Pentland Firth vessel was to be
“Hamnavoe”, chosen by Mrs Linda Harcus of
Kirkwall.The name Hamnavoe is derived from the Old Norse
“hafnvagr” which means haven or harbour voe. It
is also an old Norse name for the town of Stromness.
Construction on the Hamnavoe started at the Aker
Finnyards dry dock in November 2001. She was being
constructed beside her larger sisters Hrossey and Hjaltland,
the identical sister vessels being built to serve the
Aberdeen-Kirkwall-Lerwick route.
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The design of the £28m Hamnavoe
is largest and fastest vessel to serve on the Pentland
Firth at 8,940 gross tones, 112 metres long, and a
maximum speed of 20.5 knots. She is fully roll-on
roll-off ship which uses the new Clam Shell bow door
design where the wave action serves to tighten the fit
between the bow doors and the surrounding hull. This
design also eliminates the leverage effect danger, in
which the traditional design is susceptible.
The manoeuvrability of the vessel is
controlled by twin variable pitch propellers and a twin
rudder system with two bow thrusters. A bulbous bow is
fitted to help her efficiency through the water and her
stabilizing system consists off two retractable fin
stabilizers located just aft of amidships. The ship does
not contain the anti healing water tank system that is
present on her lager sisters. The main propulsion is
provided by the two 9 cylinder MAK Diesel units providing
a maximum of 8,680 kW.
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Hamnavoe builder's plate
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The passenger accommodation for 600
onboard the Hamnavoe is over two decks. Deck 5
contains the reception amidships. Travelling toward the
stern there is a shop, various reclining seating,
children’s play area, a bar, and 16 passenger cabins
which is an odd addition for a day ship. However, on the
early Morning sailings passengers are able to book cabins
and embark the ship after she discharges from her Evening
Scrabster sailing. This is much the same service in which
Caledonian MacBrayne offered on board the Suilven for
the morning Ullapool-Stornoway sailing.
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Just off the reception area there is the
public shower in which drivers can use on request. This
is very considerate addition for a one and a half hour
crossing. It is unfortunate that NorthLink did not apply
this same consideration for passengers (unable to obtain
overnight cabins) on the Aberdeen-Kirkwall-Lerwick
service. Forward from the reception is the crew
accommodation. Deck 6 contains a restaurant at the bow, a
small restaurant/bar, and gaming area amidships, and
another bar and reclining seat area towards the stern.
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Entry into service for the Hamnavoe
was not a normal undertaking. Although the construction
of the ship was slightly behind schedule, it would not
make any difference as events closer to home at Scrabster
would not allow the ship to take up her service on the
change over day, October 1st 2002.
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To accommodate the Hamnavoe at
Scrabster, a new pier was being built to allow a deep
water berth. The existing pier at Scrabster was deemed to
shallow (considering the wind and swell conditions that
occur during poor weather) with the linkspan too narrow,
i.e. too close to the pier. The new pier location was
further towards the sea and the extremely bad weather
(storms damaged sheet piling on two separate occasions in
February 2002 alone) and various geological problems,
left the construction well behind schedule. These
problems were known in advance of the transition date and
various solutions were proposed.
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| One solution was to use a temporary
linkspan from the shore along the shallower “to
shore” berth which was already complete. This was
probably conceived after a similar method was used at
Stromness while the new linkspan was being installed.
This involved using the floating linkspan from
Invergordon (Cromarty Firth) on the inner berth at
Stromness. This linkspan was used by the former Orcargo
freight ship Contender which operated to Kirkwall,
and the P&O ships during times when navigation
through the entrance of Aberdeen harbour was not
possible.However, due to various logistical problems this was
not seen as a sensible choice and NorthLink took the
decision to charter additional tonnage to cover the
route. The company’s choice was the Caledonian
MacBrayne vessel, Hebridean Isles which was not
exactly a popular choice due to her reduced capacity,
speed and willingness to sail in poor weather compared to
the St Ola (IV). |
St Ola (IV) Leaving Stromness for the last time.
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| Unfortunately for NorthLink this poor choice of cover
was accompanied by various (but expected) and very well
publicised teething problems. To make matters worse the
weather in the north during the winter of 2002 and 2003
was about as bad as it gets. The Hebridean Isles
did her best during this winter, but struggled with the
Pentland Firth, which caused much frustration and even a
live BBC broadcast as the service virtually fell apart.
One welcomed feature of the newer (well looked after) Hebridean
Isles was her standard of accommodation, which was
beginning to get rough around the edges on the St Ola (IV) due to P&O’s reluctance to spend a
penny more than necessary after conformation of losing
the contract. After sea trial and the official handing
over to NorthLink, the Hamnavoe was sent to Leith
docks, arriving October 9 th 2002. There was a
poignant moment en-route when the Hamnavoe and St
Ola (IV) passed each other south of Sweden. The St
Ola (IV) was heading to her new owners in the Baltic
still baring the “St Ola” name which she holds
to this day. Various reports were in circulation
regarding a charter for the Hamnavoe until she
could be utilised, however no charter did materialise. |
Hebridean Isles arriving in Stromness for the first time.
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| The Hamnavoe’s first visit to Stromness
was on October 18th 2002, in perpetration for
her naming ceremony. She made a fine sight entering
Stromness harbour in the afternoon sun apart from a very
odd looking white patch on her port bow. A large section
of paint had parted from the hull en-route from Leith.
This was put down to an accidental spillage of a
hydraulic fluid which came into contact with this section
of the hull while still in the shipyard.The crew descended
on the local hardware shop and did a fine patch up job for
her official naming the following day in the presence of
local dignitaries and officials from Aker Finnyards.
Also attending the ceremony was one special VIP,
the oldest resident in Stromness, centenarian Mrs Maggie Muir. The
following day the Hamnavoe was open to the public with
2,878 visitors taking advantage of the invite. After the celebrations the vessel
returned to her lay up berth in Leith, and once secured,
she was left, manned only by a skeleton crew. In the
meantime the Hebridean Isles was still struggling
with the Pentland Firth service and with local pressure
reaching boiling point the decision was made to modify
the existing berth at Scrabster and finally bring the Hamnavoe
into service. This looked like the last throw of the dice
after an attempt to bring an freight ship to accompany
the Hebridean Isles failed in early February 2003.
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Hamnavoe arriving in Stromness for the first time.
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The modifications (funded by the Scottish
Executive to the tune of £300,000) involved extending
the linkspan ramp beyond the ram supports to allow a
wider extended end to be fitted. This then allowed the
wider Hamnavoe to lower her stern ramp onto the
linkspan that was designed to accommodate the first Ro-Ro
vessel of the route, St Ola (III) in early
1970’s. This involved an extra lifting mechanism for
the now: heaver, longer and wider linkspan ramp. An
additional fender was also deployed on the linkspan
dolphin to help hold the vessel in position.
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These modifications allowed the Hamnavoe
to enter service on April 21st 2003. Before
entering service the vessel performing a short (odd)
visit to Lerwick and Hatston (Kirkwall) for berthing
trials. She also performed fund raising cruises for the
Lifeboat, and various open days at both Scrabster and
Stromness. When she did enter service the Hamnavoe
was an instant success. The Hebridean Isles held
station at Scrabster for a few days in case of any
teething problems, however, she was not required and
returned to her owners.
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Since entering service the Hamnavoe
has introduced a level of passenger accommodation never
before seen on the Pentland Firth. Basically the
accommodation onboard is cruise ship standard, with an
image resembling a 5 star hotel. The Hamnavoe has
also brought a shorter crossing time of 1 hour 30 minutes
for a greater number of passengers.
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The Hamnavoe does however posses
one very strange major design consideration, in that she
does not contain half decks. Her main hold is basically
an unobstructed area, 5 commercial lanes in width. This
arrangement can accommodate a larger volume of commercial
traffic than her predecessor, but less cars, 98 compared
to 120. With the volume of cars always on the increase on
the Pentland Firth is seems a very strange decision not
include half decks considering the ship is built to serve
the route for at least 20 years. With the open design of
the hold (no central casing) it also looks like the
future addition of halfdecks can never be an option,
without major redesign which, would obviously raise
stability issues. NorthLink also made this strange design
choice with the Hamnavoe’s larger sisters.
However, both Hrossay and Hjaltland have a
lower car hold for 25 cars which allows slightly more
flexibility.
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Although the Hamnavoe has taken
well to her intended route it has not all been plain
sailing for the ship since she entered service.
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In August 2003 small cracks on the bow
loading ramp were discovered. This condition was
thankfully repairable while the vessel carried out her
normal service. She was however prevented from using the
bow ramp and was therefore restricted to stern loading
only, until the fault was rectified.
During her annual refit in February 2004
at Lloyd Werft , Bremerhavan, Germany it was discovered
that the vessel had developed what was described as
further “ hairline cracks” on one of the
A-frame structures that supports the propeller shaft.
Structural problems were again to haunt the Hamnavoe,
only this time worse. Repairs were carried out during the
refit but, as a precaution NorthLink decided to have the
area regularly checked by divers to ensure any repeat of
the problems was detected early.
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| This lack of confidence proved to be
justified and the ship was eventually withdrawn from
service when the situation was discovered to be
deteriorating. The Hamnavoe was sent back to Lloyd
Werft on May 16th 2004 for urgent repairs and it was
generally thought the regular relief vessel Hebridean
Isles would take over the service for around a week.
However, due to Caledonian MacBrayne having no spare
vessel to provide, and an overall lack of surplus
tonnage, NorthLink took the very unpopular decision to
deploy the freight vessel Hascosay onto the route
until the Hamnavoe returned. The Hascosay
operated Scrabster-Stromness by carrying the usual
freight and cars, accompanied by only 12 passengers.
Shuttle buses were laid on for passengers to connect with
the short sea passenger only Burwick-John Groats crossing
and then shuttled again to Scrabster to pick up their cars
and onward connections. Strangely, these were not the only
structural problems to affect the NorthLink fleet. The Hrossay
was taken out of service when it would found her healing
tank (that is used to slow and counteract the ships roll)
was found to be leaking. This vessel also suffered the
inconvenience of a mast parting drift from the
superstructure and landing onto the roof of the bridge.
These events were uneasy times for NorthLink as the worry
of structural problems on the fleet were building up.
Thankfully these early events have not yet been an
indication for future problems.
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Hascosay Leaving Stromness.
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This period was already an extremely
difficult time for the company due to Transport Minister
Nicol Stephen’s decision to re-tender the route in
April 2004 due to NorthLink’s major financial
situation. This was unsurprisingly at the forefront of
local and national press. During the Hamnavoe’s
well publicised leave of absents, various interested
parties were beginning to announce their intention to bid
for the Northern Isles ferry service, including former
operators P&O Ferries. The media frenzy peaked when
Radio Scotland's Lesley Riddoch Show visited Orkney with
a view to gain some answers! The Hamnavoe
thankfully resumed service one day behind schedule on May
25th 2004, much to the relief of the company
and community.
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When NorthLink took over the service they
basically ran with the P&O timetable with slight
alterations and additional sailings in the Mornings and
Evenings. The Hamnavoe lay in Stromness overnight
and departed at 03:45 to arrive in Scrabster to pick up
the early morning freight departing at 06:00.
These times varied slightly since the start of the
service but basically kept the same general pattern.
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However, in an attempt to attract more
passengers NorthLink more or less inverted this schedule
with the Hamnavoe still laying in Stromness, but
only leaving at 06:30. The first sailing from Scrabster
then departed at 08:45 arriving 11:00. NorthLink
announced this change in early October 2004 and planned
to implement it on January 1st 2005.Although
the tourist industry welcomed these changes,
the islanders were split and the freight customers were
not in agreement. With this schedule many argued that
freight would be arriving into the county too late when
considering the various onward inter island
connections. After another (well publicised and
drawn out) battle between NorthLink and the opposing
members of the community the Scottish Executive stepped
in and took control of the situation on December 1st
2004.
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Hamnavoe's model.
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Initially the executive put a halt to
the timetable change until more research was carried out.
However, after various consultations with major
stakeholders the go ahead was eventually given for the
new timetable. This commenced on February 7th
2005 with the Hebridean Isles, as the Hamnavoe
was delayed returning from annual refit in Denmark. This
was due to a main engine problem that developed when she
left the yard, which forced her to return for repairs.
The Hamnavoe returned from refit and resumed
service on February 9th 2005, five days late.
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On the early morning sailing of May 16th 2006 the Hamnavoe encountered an
electrical problem that caused the ship to loose power causing the vessel strike
the Outer Holm island at the mouth of the Stromness harbour. Luckily no serious damage was sustained
to the vessel and she was able to return to port after re floating herself with the incoming tide.
She returned to normal service later the same day. Although the decision on the re tender process was
announced on March 9th 2006 in favour of Caledonian MacBrayne, The eventual handover to Caledonian MacBrayne (operating the
service as NorthLink Ferries Limited) was on July 06th 2006, and lived up to the promise
of being a seamless transfer.
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Although the Hamnavoe is a new purpose built vessel, which has only
operated the Scrabster-Stromness route for a relatively short period, it can be seen her
short history has already been eventful. For this short space of time, it is
therefore surprising the combination of events that the
ship and service have endured, making for an already
detailed history.
On the surface the tender handover has made no difference to the Hamnavoe
and her service, which is a welcomed result after the initial teething, technical, and political
issues which are gladly in the past for this fine vessel.
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Text by: Mark Wemyss
Photos by: Julia Wright & Mark Wemyss
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