News and Updates

We would like to advise customers that the MV Graemsay will be taken out of service from the 14th - 16th July.

This is due to a requirement to complete essential gear box repairs.

The service will be operated by Northerly Marine Services MV Northern Explorer during this time.

We would recommend that any passengers wishing to travel on these dates book in advance as the vessel is limited to 12 passengers.

We have scheduled additional sailings during this period to increase capacity.

Please click here to view the updated timetable

We would like to advise passengers that the following amendments have been made to the Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre timetable on Monday 14th July.

There will be two direct sailings into Kirkwall as the road from Tingwall will be closed for the duration of the cycling time trial.

All sailings up until 0910 will remain unchanged.

Timetable after 0910 will be as follows

• Depart Egilsay 0930
• Depart Wyre 0950
• Depart Rousay 1005
• Arrive Kirkwall 1110
• Depart Kirkwall 1120
• Arrive Rousay 1225
• Depart Rousay 1405
• Arrive Kirkwall 1510
• Depart Kirkwall 1530
• Depart Rousay 1635
• Depart Egilsay 1655
• Depart Wyre 1715

The normal timetable will resume from the 1730 departure from Rousay.

Sailings to Kirkwall are not available online, as this is not one of our standard routes, bookings for these sailings can be made through our customer service team on 01856 872044

We would like to advise passengers that the following amendment has been made to the Graemsay timetable on Sunday 13th July.

The morning sailing has been brought forward to ensure ferry traffic is cleared before the road closure for the Triathlon at 0930

Sailing times will be as follows

• Depart Stromness 0800
• Depart Moaness 0830
• Depart Graemsay 0845
• Arrive Stromness 0900

We would like to advise passengers that the following amendment has been made to the Houton timetable on Saturday 12th July

There will be an additional Houton evening sailing to Lyness.

Sailing times will be as follow.

• Depart Houton 1915
• Depart Lyness 1955
• Arrive Longhope (foot passengers only) 2015

Please note that the 1830 arrival at Longhope has been cancelled to accommodate this additional sailing.

We would like to advise customers that the Nordic Sea will be providing an additional foot passenger service between Kirkwall and Stronsay, Sanday & Eday from the 2nd June to 28th September.

The timetable for this service can be found here - Orkney Ferries | Timetables and Fares

All passengers wishing to use this service must book and make payment in advance of travel.

In response to customer feedback, and to facilitate onward travel from Westray we have replaced the 07:30 departure with a 07:00 and a 08:00 departure on the above route.

The sailing times will be as follows:

• Depart Pierowall 0700
• Arrive Papa Westray 0725
• Depart Papa Westray 0730
• Arrive Pierowall 0755

• Depart Pierowall 0800
• Arrive Papa Westray 0820
• Depart Papa Westray 0825
• Arrive Pierowall 0850

For more information on our timetables, please see Orkney Ferries | Timetables and Fares

We are pleased to be able to offer three late sailings over the summer period for Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre

These are scheduled for Saturday 14th June, Saturday 12th July and Saturday 9th August.

Sailing times will be as follows:

- Depart Rousay 22:00
- Depart Tingwall 22:35
- Depart Rousay 23:10 – on request
- Depart Wyre 23:20 – on request
- Depart Egilsay 23:40 – on request
- Arrive Rousay 23:55

On request sailings must be booked and paid in advance either over the phone or online.

We would like to remind customers that it is advisable to book all journeys even if you are travelling as foot passengers without vehicles.

We have recently noticed a large influx of foot passengers on our services. Prebooking avoids disappointment and ensures customers are guaranteed their space onboard.

This is particularly important as we move into our busiest time of year.

- We would like to encourage our passengers to book travel as far in advance as possible -

You can make bookings online - Orkney Ferries, or you can phone any of our offices to make your bookings - Orkney Ferries | Contact Us.

We would like to remind customers as we move into our busiest time of year, there are limited car parking facilities at our Houton terminal.

To avoid disappointment, where possible we would like to encourage passengers wishing to travel from Houton as foot passengers to make use of the ample long stay car parking facilities in Kirkwall and to utilise bus services from Kirkwall & Stromness that go directly to the Houton terminal.

- Further information on car parking facilities can be found here - Parking and Car Parks (orkney.gov.uk).

- Further information on the bus timetables can be found here (Service 2 & Service 5) - Bus Services (orkney.gov.uk).

Orkney Ferries offer customers a way to receive disruption and cancellation messages to a smart phone or computer via Telegram.

Telegram is a free and simple messaging app with a focus on speed and security.

You can use Telegram on smartphones, tablets, and even computers. It’s very easy to use and only requires a name and mobile phone number to create an account.

To receive updates from please download the Telegram app from your app store, set up your account and then return to this page and select our unique link, which you can access by clicking here - Orkney Ferries Telegram Channel

Once on the channel you will be messaged with any updates on disruptions or cancellations in real time.