Friday 13 December 2024
 7.3°C   SW Moderate Breeze
SCT - 2025/26 Small Grant SchemeSCT - 2025/26 Small Grant Scheme
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

Marine / Record number of cruise ships scheduled next year

The Island Sky leaving Lerwick earlier this week. Photo: Jim Mullay

A RECORD 112 cruise ship visits to Lerwick are in the schedule for next year, the town’s port authority has said.

It comes after the truncated 2021 season came to an end on Tuesday following the departure of the Island Sky.

The ship, which had 93 passengers on board, was also the first cruise to visit Shetland earlier this year after a 17-month ban on liners arriving into Scottish ports.

This year’s season should have closed today (Wednesday) with the arrival of Crystal Endeavour on her maiden visit, but the call was cancelled at short notice by the operator due to adverse weather conditions en route.

Lerwick Port Authority’s cruise and marketing manager Melanie Henderson said: “The return of Island Sky concludes the successful, initial phase of rebuilding cruise traffic at Lerwick in the wake of Covid.

“It is disappointing to have the season cut even shorter at the last minute, but we look forward to welcoming Crystal Endeavour in the future.

“We have seen six maiden visits, repeat calls and operators new to the port, with the smooth restoration giving confidence for more activity next year and getting back to more normal levels.”

This year saw over 685,000 gross tonnes of cruise shipping and around 8,600 passengers travel to Lerwick.

The vessel count was less than a fifth of what was originally scheduled.

Henderson said, however, that the reintroduction of cruises provided a boost to the local tourism sector.

For 2022 over four million gross tonnes of shipping is scheduled.

But the port authority said changes can be anticipated as cruise lines firm up their itineraries around the “evolving global situation and easing of restrictions”.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.