GR Direct - Sony - Save up to £500
Thursday 24 July 2025
 15.5°C   NW Gentle Breeze
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

Community / Another break on telecoms cable

THE SUBSEA telecoms cabling which links Faroe, Shetland and Orkney to the Scottish mainland was damaged again in May – the fourth time in less than year.

The latest break happened on 11 May on a section of Faroese Telecom’s SHEFA-2 cable to the west of Shetland.

Faroese Telecom managing director Páll Højgaard Vesturbú told Shetland News that it did not impact any telecommunications, and that fishing gear was the suspected cause.

The break on the Faroe-Shetland link has since been repaired.

It follows breaks on the same line back in September and October last year.

Later in October 2022 there was also damage to the SHEFA-2 cable to east of Shetland’s South Mainland, which caused significant disruption to telecoms in the isles.

All incidents are believed to be accidents involving fishing vessel gear.

The SHEFA-2 cable runs from Tórshavn to Maywick in Shetland, then from Sandwick onto Orkney and the Scottish mainland.

Meanwhile BP confirmed to Shetland News this week that damage had been caused to the infrastructure of a subsea gas pipeline to the west of Shetland, with fishing gear suspected to be the cause.

In that case there is no risk to the pipeline integrity, with safe operations continuing.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:

  • Removal of third-party 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.

 

Sign up
for our Newsletters

Stay in the loop with newsletters tailored to your interests. Whether you're looking for daily updates, weekly highlights, or updates on jobs or property, you can choose exactly what you want to receive.

Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

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.

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?

  • Removal of third-party ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.