Scotland's Shetland Islands Council awards contract for replacement ferry construction

The Shetland Islands Council of Scotland has awarded Parkol Marine Engineering a contract to build the vessel that would become the new ferry for Fair Isle.

Parkol Marine secured the £5.6 million (US$7.7 million) ferry construction contract following a recent open tender exercise.

Work is currently ongoing to finalise the vessel design and specification, before fabrication of the new vessel gets underway at Parkol’s facilities in Whitby, Yorkshire. The expected handover date for the vessel is October 2026.

The requirement is to construct a larger, faster monohull vessel built to modern standards to replace the current ferry Good Shepherd IV, which was built in 1986 in Fife.

The council said the new vessel will comply with the MCA workboat code, be able to carry 12 passengers, and have increased lift-on, lift-off capacity for freight operations.

The vessel will be Ro-Ro capable so that it can use the council’s existing ferry linkspans and be built with a strengthened hull for regular linkspan, quay and slipway operations.

In addition to this vessel build contract, harbour infrastructure works are also now underway at Grutness and in Fair Isle.

The anticipated total cost of the project to replace the Fair Isle ferry is £45.4 million (US$62.4 million), with Shetland Islands Council providing £18.6 million (US$26.6 million) of funding and the UK Government providing a grant to shoulder the remaining £26.8 million (US$36.9 million) – nearly 60 per cent of the total cost – through its "levelling up fund."

The funding for the purchase of the replacement ferry was approved by the Shetland Islands Council in late 2024.