Aberdeen - Lerwick and Kirkwall Ferry

Hildasay and Hjaltland at Lerwick

The main ferry service to Lerwick on Shetland from the mainland sails overnight from Aberdeen. A number of crossings, but not all, stop en route at Kirkwall on Orkney. The service is operated by Northlink Ferries, and provides separate daily passenger and freight services. The passenger service is provided by MV Hjaltland and MV Hrossey, while the freight ships are MV Hildasay and MV Helliar. The freight crossings operate to a slightly different timetable to prevent clashes at the ports, but rarely carry more than a handful of passengers (lorry drivers). Both passenger ferries have a large number of cabins on board, as well as sleeping 'pods' due to the overnight crossings. All four ferries are in port during the days as the crossings are all over 12 hours, preventing two journeys per day without introducing overnight departures.

The port in Aberdeen is a compact site accessed from the A956. Due to the recent introduction of Aberdeen's Low Emission Zone, it is now most easily accessed from the south. The passenger ferry comes alongside the harbour wall next to the terminal facilities. Lerwick's ferry port lies to the north of the town centre, on a thin strip of land between the A970 and the Bressay Sound. Here the two ferries can lie alongside each other on either side of the pier. Ferries calling at Kirkwall use the Hatston terminal, just off the A965, which is alos used by a number of the outer island ferries, although as the Aberdeen service generally calls around midnight, there are few clashes.

Crossing Times

• Aberdeen - Lerwick is approximately 349km and the crossing time is 12.5 hours northbound and 12 hours southbound
• Aberdeen - Kirkwall is approximately 265km and the crossing time is 6 hours northbound and 7.25 hours southbound
• Kirkwall - Lerwick is approximately 189km and the crossing time is 7.75 hours northbound and 5.5 hours southbound

Ferries

Name	IMO	Operator	Dates	Notes
Hjaltland	9244958	Northlink Ferries	2002-date	140 cars
Hrossey	9244960	Northlink Ferries	2002-date	140 cars
Hildasay	9119426	Northlink Ferries	2010-date	freight/livestock
Helliar	9119397	Northlink Ferries	2011-date	freight/livestock
Hascosay	7120768		?-2010	freight/livestock
Clare	7214727		?-2011	freight/livestock

Links

Northlink Ferries

• timetables
• Tour of ferries using Streetview