News and Updates

We would like to advise, MV Graemsay will be on annual refit from Saturday 4th to Sunday 19h April.

During this time, we have chartered Northerly Marine Services MV Northerly Explorer.

To increase capacity, we have added additional sailings, these are on request and must be booked online or through the office at least one hour before departure from Stromness.

Additional sailing times can be seen on our Graemsay refit timetable available on our website.

Larger freight items for cargo sailings will be on request, and will need to be booked through the office.

We would like to inform passengers that all of this afternoon’s sailings on the Pierowall to Papa Westray service are now cancelled.

This is due to the latest forecasts for weather and sea conditions.

All booked passengers have been contacted.

For all further updates, please head to our websites or social media channels.

We would like to advise passengers that the 16:00 departure from Pierowall to Papa Westray has been moved to 14:00.

This is due to the strengthening wind & tidal conditions.

We have contacted all affected passengers.

We would like to advise passengers of the possibility of disruption across all services from Saturday 28th to Monday 30th March.

This is due to forecasted weather conditions.

Further updates will be posted on our website, social media profiles, and telegram channel.

We would like to advise passengers that the departure from Kirkwall to Westray on Tuesday 31st March has been brought forward by 30 minutes, this is to accommodate a funeral in Westray.

The amended sailing times are below

Depart Kirkwall 13:00

Arrive Westray 14:25

Depart Westray 15:15

The subsequent departure and arrival times from Papa Westray and Westray remain unchanged

Depart Papa Westray 1600

Arrive Westray 1745

Depart Westray 1755

Arrive Kirkwall 1920

We regret to inform passengers that there will be a delay in return of the Nordic Sea from refit.

Updates will be provided as soon as they are available.

All sailings from 28^th March to 3^rd April currently have been cancelled.

For the latest updates, head to our website or social media feeds.

We would like to advise customers that the Nordic Sea timetables to Eday, Sanday and Stronsay from 28th March to 2nd May have now been released.

There are some changes to the timetable, and these can be viewed on our website at orkneyferries.co.uk/timetables

We would like to advise passengers that the 07:20 Westray service on Saturday 2nd May will operate to the following schedule.

Depart Kirkwall 06:40

Arrive Westray 08:05

Depart Westray 08:15

Arrive Kirkwall 09:40

This is to accommodate Westray rugby players attending Rugby Sevens in Kirkwall.

All affected passengers have been contacted.

We are happy to announce that our summer timetables from the 3rd May – 27th September 2026 are now open for bookings through our offices or online booking system.

We are happy to announce that our summer timetables from the 3rd May – 27th September 2026 are now open for bookings through our offices or online booking system.

Orkney Ferries offers 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.

- Please note, Telegram is an internationally used social media site/app meaning users may be suspect to receiving spam messages from unknown accounts. When creating a profile to join our channel, be sure to set your Privacy and Security settings to limit Invites and Forwarded Messages.