Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company

Following publication of the contract notice, the procurement is underway on the next contract to operate, what is called, the northern isles ferry services. The contract estimates an investment of £850 million in the ferry services over a 10-year period.

This will include the operation of the three current passenger ferries, with new RoPax passenger vessels expected to be delivered within the life of the contract, and the two new freight-flex vessels, expected on the route by early 2029.

A cross-party group of members of the Scottish parliament has urged the Scottish government to take action to safeguard lifeline flights for Scotland’s island communities, after Loganair announced plans to reduce flights on the Sumburgh-Kirkwall-Inverness route and on the Inverness-Stornoway route.

A peer-reviewed study by researchers at the University of Aberdeen on the west of Shetland oil and gas fields has highlighted the importance of the area in extending the life of the UK’s oil and gas sector.

Cooke Scotland has won planning permission from the Shetland Islands Council for a new salmon farming site off Vementry.

The trustees of the Shetland Charitable Trust have been told that the current value of the trust’s investments is £478 million, a rise in the last two months of £41 million.

To improve access, and to ensure that patients receive more complete and preventative dental care, NHS Shetland has revealed that, since the end of January, the NHS Shetland Public Dental Service has been trialling a return to how NHS dental care was provided before the pandemic.