The ferry route between Nesna and Levang is popular with tourists who drive along Kystriksveien on county road 17. Torghatten’s managing director, Torkild Torkildsen, confirms to news that they have now had to cancel due to a lack of navigators. – Unfortunately, we had to cancel due to a lack of crew at 12 o’clock this morning, but we are working as hard as we can to get this in place as soon as possible. Torkildsen says that he hopes the cancellation will not be prolonged, but in the worst case the ferry may remain at the dock until Monday. For the time being, Nordland County Council is deploying a boat that carries passengers, but not cars, from Friday afternoon from Nesna. This has major consequences for those who depend on getting by car over the ferry connection. – It is completely tragic. It is not just Nesna-Levang who is struggling. In Helgeland there has been chaos due to a lack of manpower, says mayor Ivan Haugland (Ap) in Leirfjord municipality. The municipality has employees who live at Nesna, but who are now unable to get to work. In addition, it is a stretch that is widely used by both tourists and the business world. – For them, it is critical to be without a ferry. – But they can drive around, right? – Yes, but it’s 16 miles to drive. The trip across the fjord usually takes around half an hour, but now there is a detour via Mo i Rana. That means over two and a half hours by car. Nesna mayor Hanne Davidsen (Ap) is also listed. – It is of course a very regrettable situation. We have had many problems with the ferry over time, so it is very bad. We are in the middle of the tourist season. But the worst are traders and commuters, who depend on the ferry. – It is critical Nordland County Council is responsible for the ferries that connect the county roads. – It is absolutely terrible, it is critical, we cannot have it like this, says county councilor for transport and infrastructure, Monika Sande (Sp). Last year, 500 ferry departures in Nordland were canceled due to a lack of crew. The reason is complex, but a large part of the reason is that there are not enough seamen to operate the ferries. In the summer, there are more ferry departures on several connections than usual, as a result of more traffic in the summer, and the ferry crews must also have a holiday. And substitutes are hard to come by, despite retirees and others taking on extra shifts to keep the ferries running. Chairman Marius Strømmen of the Norwegian Naval Officers’ Association. on a tour of Helgeland to talk to its members. He is not surprised by the problems. – The experience is that people have stood for a long time and worked a lot of overtime. And they have been there beyond their shifts to keep the connection going, but now their patience has run out. And there are repetitions in many connections, he says to news. Strømmen says there has been a shortage of sailors on the ferries. – There has been an unfortunate spiral in terms of pay and rotation in this, and this in turn means that people do not apply for the ferry. And then the shipping companies are left without people, and there again we can point to the tendering regime, and the fact that you do not have the arrangements or salaries that they have in the other maritime industries. Several ferries lack crew But it is not only the ferry between Nesna and Levang that has been cancelled. Torghatten has also struggled to find people who can operate the ferries that run between Jektvik and Kilboghavn in Rødøy. This has led to several early morning and evening departures being cancelled. Torghatten Nord has also canceled several departures on the connection Jektvik – Kilboghamn on Kystriksveien in Rødøy due to crew shortages. Here is the queue for Thursday this week. Photo: Marius Strømmen Fjord1 has also canceled two departures on the E6 between Bognes and Skarberget on Friday morning, due to a lack of people. Helgelands Blad writes that Torghatten Midt lacks crew for the speedboat route between Sandnessjøen and Vega. They now have to hire a smaller boat from Lovund Skyss. The county councilor says it is a broken situation for those who are affected. – We have worked on this, and we do what we can to help, but it is the shipping companies that have the crews. But it is our responsibility that we have good mobility, and we do what we can to rectify that, but it is not so easy when they cannot get hold of people, she says.
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Torghatten lacks a navigator on the ferry – appoints Nesna – Levang – news Nordland
