From the autumn, the vast majority of ferries in Nordland can become free. Nevertheless, there are riots in several places along the coast of Nordland. The reason? The ferries are old, in poor condition and the departures are too unpredictable. On Friday last week at the latest, a funeral in Rødøy municipality had to be postponed for six hours – from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock – because neither the priest nor the visitors made it on the ferry. – The waiting time is very long when you are waiting for a funeral. Waiting for the coffin, priest and people to arrive is a very long six hours. That’s what Olav Rune Ertzeid says. He is provost in Nord-Helgeland. Olav Rune Ertzeid is provost in Nord-Helgeland. Now he has sent a letter to the county council, in which he sheds light on the ferry problem in the region and the challenges these entail. Photo: news For 18 years he has lived on the coast of Nordland, and has experienced that both weather and wind have been obstacles. But as bad as it is now, he has never experienced that before. – People along the coast are patient by nature and know that it is nature that decides the most. But here it was not nature that opposed, but material and supply. It is something we think should be in place, but it is not. The coastal municipality of Rødøy depends on ferries to get to and from the mainland. – We are being subjected to this insecurity. That is why he has sent a letter to Nordland County Council asking for an improvement. In addition to the fact that the brothel has to spend considerable sums on hiring private shuttle boats on various occasions when the ferry is not working, “This is something we do not want to expose people to, but we are subjected to this insecurity,” he writes, among other things, in the letter. “Halve” the municipality with protest A little further south on Helgeland lies the island municipality of Dønna. At New Year, the 1,369 inhabitants had new ferries and new routes to deal with. But the offer was not better than what you had before – on the contrary. This led Tom Kenneth Johansen to start an appeal on minsak.no, where he demands better ferries and ferry routes. Tom Kenneth Johansen is both a teacher, football coach and municipal council politician. He despairs of the ferry connection to the regional center Sandnessjøen, and believes that many steps have been taken back when the new tender came into effect at New Year. Photo: Frank Nygård / news After just under a week, 837 people have signed the petition. – There is a great deal of frustration in Dønna, because we feel that transport has taken a real step back, says Tom Kenneth Johansen. For the residents of Dønna and the neighboring municipality of Herøy, ferry and speedboat are the only way for the barely 3,200 inhabitants to get to the mainland. He himself lives in Dønna and sits on the municipal council for Rødt. In the past, a ferry ran with much better space on the car deck. Now there is a ferry that is so cramped that many people fear for their safety. Previously, there were closed ferries that crossed the fjord. Now the ferries are open, which in turn means that the cars are washed in salt water when the weather is rough. Previously, you could get both food and drink in the lounge during the crossing. This was removed when the new tender came into force. In the petition, several travelers have left what they think about the ferry offer: RRunar:RunarToday’s ferries are so narrow that it is not easy to get out of the car during the crossing. Thought there was an end to ferries with saloon below water level. They were the ones that went into operation in the 70s and 80s. CClas:ClasIt is disheartening to experience a steady lowering of standards on the ferries over the years and now acute capacity problems. This is a controlled development, and a situation we cannot find ourselves in.RRita: Rita There is too little ferry capacity and regularity for the most part in the middle of the day. It is not usable today and will create total chaos throughout the summer. JJorid: Jorid The ferries are not only old and cramped. It is dirty and smells of diesel. The cleaning of the toilets is subject to criticism, which I have pointed out to the county and the municipality in an e-mail…AIAnn-Inger:Ann-IngerWe must avoid cars being left behind due to full ferry. If nothing is done before the summer season, many cars will be left behind and tourists and permanent residents will be angry and pissed off. Increase in the number of technical errors Because there has been a clear increase in the number of cancellations due to technical errors after the new ferries came into operation. But; at the same time, the ferries have become less vulnerable to bad weather. This is shown by statistics from Nordland County Municipality. Ferry statistics Number of cancellations in the first four months of 2023 compared to 2022. Dønna connection (Sandnessjøen – Dønna – Løkta) 2023: 16 (technical fault), 49 (bad weather) 2022: 8 (technical fault), 72 (bad weather) Herøy -sambandet (Søvik – Austbø – Herøy – Brasøy) 2023: 58 (technical error) “52 of these occurred during a three-day period at the beginning of March, and the reason there were so many trips is that there was no spare vessel available .” 2022: 36 (technical error), 121 (weather) “There were a good number of canceled trips due to corona infection among the crew.” Statistics and comments: Nordland county municipality This makes Johansen look darkly at the summer and the public holiday. Then the tourists from the south flock to Helgeland. – It’s going to be chaos. The negativity surrounding the ferries will affect the tourists. It will be a limiting factor for the tourism industry. When the nice weather comes and the tourists come, it will be a huge chaos, he says. The car ferry MF Folgefonn has received a lot of criticism after it started running between Sandnessjøen, Dønna and Løkta on 1 January 2023. The ferry is from 1998 and takes around 75 passenger car units. Photo: Erik Ask Mayor rages: – People don’t get to hospital A little further north in Helgeland, Mayor Hanne Davidsen (Ap) in Nesna municipality shakes his head. Here, the ferry situation has been a source of frustration for several years – and recently the situation has peaked. After two ferries have experienced technical problems, only one ferry – MF Rødøy – has to serve two connections with a total of five calls. – For our part, it is completely hopeless and unsustainable. There is unpredictability and shutdown for many, many hours. We feel that very well. Mayor Hanne Davidsen (Ap) in Nesna municipality is upset about the ferry conditions in the municipality and demands that the county take action immediately. Photo: Frank Nygård / news – What must the county do? – They must put in better material and increase the regularity. We cannot live with this unpredictability. The business community calls me straight away, people don’t get to hospital and that’s critical. – Will be a requirement for newer vessels – I understand that it is disappointing not to get the offer you should have, says Monika Sande (Sp), county councilor for transport and infrastructure in Nordland. According to her, most of the ferries are now up and running again. She also says that much of the problem is about spare ferries. – It usually goes well when a boat has technical faults or problems, because the companies have one in reserve. But when they use the same backup solution on several connections, it becomes a problem. At the shipyard Slipen Mekaniske in Sandnessjøen, three ferries, Lurøy, Hestøysund and Trondenes, were lying still on Tuesday. A little further away in the harbor are also the reserve ferries Vikingen, Møysalen and Alsten. None are in normal operation. Photo: Frank Nygård / news It is one of the things she believes they should be stricter on the next time they put assignments out to tender. – We constantly try to follow up when boats don’t run, and help them get going again, but we have to be stricter about this with reserve boats in later tenders. The tenders that are out now are short. But those that are lighted later will be long, and then newer vessels will be required, says Sande.
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Both coffin and priest were six hours late for the funeral – news Nordland
