Bluemul ferry service disruption

TRANSPORT links between Shetland’s north isles will be disrupted for the rest of this week after the Bluemull Sound ferry Bigga was damaged on Tuesday morning.

Shetland Islands Council’s head of ferries Ken Duerden said the ferry’s stern gland had been fouled by a piece a fencing wire and would have to go in dry dock at Fraserburgh for repairs to be carried out.

A single vessel service will operate between Yell, Unst and Fetlar for the next few days until the Geira comes back into service from the Malakoff slip, hopefully later this week.

Mr Duerden said repairs were further hampered by the bad weather forecast, which could delay Bigga’s trip to Fraserburgh until the weekend. Repairs should not take longer than 72 hours, he said.

Ferry services will operate a Saturday timetable on Bluemull Sound until further notice. The SIC has apologised to the travelling public for any inconvenience.