Out of Hours Ferry

Shapinsay Development Trust fund a timetabled, foot-passenger only, service from Shapinsay to the Corn Slip (opposite Helgis Bar) at Kirkwall pier, six days per week.

This service takes 10 passengers and once the sailing is full, you can asked to be put on a waiting list. If there 5+ people on the waiting list, we may be able to consider adding in an extra sailing. Book early to avoid disappointment.

There is currently no sailing on a Sunday. However, Northerly Marine charters are able to do a run between 6pm and 8.30pm for anyone necessary travel for returning from onward travel (I.e planes, pentland firth crossings or north isles boats). Others passengers may use this service if already booked.

This service is subsidised through funds from Whirly, the island turbine.

Office hours for bookings are now Monday to Friday 9am-4pm, Saturday and Sundays 9am-12pm. Bookings out-with these times will be processed the next day. If you call and there is no answer, please leave a message and the booking person will get back to you when they are available. Bookings can be requested half an hour either side of the scheduled sailing times, large bookings at other times may be considered.

The Out of Hours boat service runs one sailing per day, Monday to Saturday.

The timetable is as follows:

Monday-Thursday KWL-Shap at 9pm / Shap-KWL at 9.20pm.

Friday& Saturday KWL Shap at 11pm / SHAP-KWL at11.20pm. (On a Friday and Saturday night, it may wait to meet the Northlink ferry, this will be noted on the calendar)

Fares

Fares for the scheduled sailings are;
Adults – £10 / Age 12-Adult – £3 / Unders 12s –  FREE

**Bookings to meet the Northlink Ferry are only on Fridays and Saturdays if bookings are made at least 2 weeks in advance to allow others to know the timetabling before they book. Bookings with less than 2 weeks notice may not be considered if prior bookings are already on the calendar

View the bookings calendar here.

You can make a booking online by completing the form below.

Please make bookings between 9am and 4pm daily. Any messages sent out-with these hours will be processed as soon as possible. You can get in touch using the following contact methods or use the booking form below.

Email: shapinsaybookings@gmail.com (Emails are sporadic when they come through on the phone so text, call or whatsapp if you want a faster response)
Phone, voice mail, Whatsapp or text: 07901 575162

SDT staff wil be happy to assist with any queries  –  01856 711733 between 9am and 1pm Monday to Thursday.

Terms

Please note:

• All sailings are ‘weather permitting’ and at the Master’s absolute discretion
• Passengers are responsible for their own conduct on board the vessel, any passengers deemed unfit or incapable of looking after themselves through excessive alcohol consumption, may not be given permission to travel.
• Payment is taken in cash, although card payment is now an option on board. Failure to pay may mean refusal for further bookings.
• Monday to Thursday sailings will be 9pm from Kirkwall and 9.20pm from Shapinsay
• Friday and Saturday sailings will be 11pm from Kirkwall, 11.20pm from Shapinsay
• Requests can be made for a change of up to 30 minutes in any sailing, but only on one leg of the journey. Minimum two weeks notice is required to book the boat to wait for Northlink sailings at the weekend.
• Passengers must contact the Master or the coordinator once on board the Northlink ferry, to inform him that onward travel is still required – this is to avoid him waiting in Kirkwall for people who aren’t on board the Ferry.
• Emergencies will be accommodated where possible; please contact the co-ordinator.
• Sailings will only operate when there are prior bookings indicated on the Keep and Share Calendar. To check current bookings please use the online calendar or contact the coordinator.
• All bookings must be cancelled in advance if not needed, with as much notice as possible. Passengers wishing to cancel before 5pm should contact the bookings coordinator (07901 575162). After 5pm the main point of contact is the Master (07825459242). In this case a text message must also to be sent to the transport co-ordinator.
• If a booking is not cancelled in advance (i.e. “no-shows’) passengers will incur a charge of £8.50. After 2 no-shows in a period of one year, a charge of £100 will be incurred for any further no-shows.
• If there is demand for organised groups to have regular times changed, requests should be made to the coordinator. Any decisions will be made by the board with consultation with the crew.
• If space is available (and at the absolute discretion of the Master) you may join any crossing if that sailing has been previously booked to run, a call to the Master to ensure timings is advised. A ‘first come, first served’ policy applies with priority given to booked passengers.
• Please do not assume that an outward, or return service will run at the published time as the sailing will only run if previously booked by other passengers, there may have been a late cancellation or if all booked passengers are ready, the sailing may leave early.

SDT have run an out of hours service since around 2011. We closely monitor usage and demand and try to tailor the service accordingly, while trying to keep the service sustainable. Due to the retiral of our stalwart service provider and an increase in fuel prices, we can no longer sustain runs twice per evening or early morning sailings. We have just purchased our own small boat to run the service ourselves, we hope this will give us a little more flexibility to be able to run extra sailings, while keeping long term costs to a minimum. We hope to be able to start running the service ourselves early in 2024.