News and Updates

This Sunday we will have the 5th of 6 Sunday Excursion days to our Outer North Isles.

This excursion takes passengers from Kirkwall, Sanday to Papa Westray.

The timetable for this excursion is as follows:

Depart Kirkwall: 09:00

Arrive Sanday: 10:25

Depart Sanday: 10:35

Arrive Papa Westray: 11:30

Depart Papa Westray: 11:40

Arrive Pierowall: 12:05

Depart Pierowall: 15:50

Arrive Papa Westray: 16:15

Depart Papa Westray: 16:25

Arrive Sanday: 17:20

Depart Sanday: 17:40

Arrive Kirkwall: 19:05

All bookings must be made at least 1 hour before departure.

We would like to advise passengers that the North Ronaldsay service will depart at the following times

Depart Kirkwall 0630

Arrive North Ronaldsay 0900

Depart North Ronaldsay 1000

Arrive Kirkwall 1230

For more information, please visit our Website and Social Media Channels

We would like to advise that the Shapinsay service scheduled to depart at 09:00 from Shapinsay on Sunday 24th August, will now depart at 08:00.

This is following a request from the community to allow Shapinsay residents to travel on the Outer North Isles Excursion via Sanday to Papa Westray.

The rest of the timetable will remain as scheduled and the Thorsvoe crew will wait for the evening arrival of the excursion sailing before departing for Shapinsay, to ensure that anyone wishing to go on the excursion is able to get home.

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 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.