Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has published its accident investigation report into the flooding and foundering of the 28 meter LK-registered twin-rig white-fish boat Opportune 30 nautical miles east of Nesting in March 2024.

The report stated that the source of the flooding into the engine room could not be established but it was most likely caused by a failure of the vessel’s seawater pipework.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has also issued a safety flier advising boat owners to ensure that seawater pipework is in good condition.

What was to be the first cruise-ship for Lerwick harbour this year, on Lerwick Up Helly Aa day, the 218-meter Balmoral, has suffered an outbreak of gastroenteritis affecting as many as 200 people.

Victims of the Tinker Experiment have backed the report by the Scottish Human Rights Commission calling for reparations to gypsy travellers. In Shetland there is no historical documentation on a local tinker community but there were families which lived in abandoned wartime buildings on the Staney Hill, in old busses and caravans in a quarry off the North Road and elsewhere.

Audit Scotland has published a report showing that the cost of delivering services by councils is rising faster than the available funding. However the Shetland Islands Council has achieved savings, mostly recurring savings, equivalent to 4.7 per cent of the revenue budget, compared to the Scottish average of 2.2 per cent.

The coastguard in Shetland kept a watch on the 142 meter Dutch registered cargoboat Fivelborg after it broke down and was not under command for a short time 17 nautical miles north-north-west of Cape Wrath.