SIC’s ferry maintenance spend reached nearly £7m last year
SHETLAND Islands Council spent nearly £7 million on ferry maintenance during the last financial year – with the Bluemull Sound vessel Geira accounting for £1.3 million.
More than £1.2 million was also spent on Yell ferry Dagalien during the financial year.
For the first quarter 2026/27 – April to June – the total bill sat at £1.54 million, with half a million spent on the Skerries ferry Filla.
Environment and transport committee chair Moraig Lyall said the figures, which were obtained through freedom of information, highlight the “difficult situation we are in”.
“Older vessels are expensive to maintain, requiring increasing periods out of service to do the work,” she said.
Geira, which was out of action for a number of months during a longer-than-planned stint in dry dock, needed new engines fitted, while the Filla had rope wound up in her propeller in March prior to scheduled dry dock.
Yell Sound meanwhile has suffered disruption in recent weeks, with the Dagalien delayed in returning from dry dock before crew sickness took the service back down to a single vessel.
However there has been more disruption this week after an issue with the davit/winch on the Daggri’s fast rescue boat.
The figures for 2025/26 show the Geira and Dagalien had the most maintenance spend by some distance.
However the Whalsay ferry Linga required £869,000 worth of maintenance, with the Yell ferry Daggri needing £662,000 worth.
Just over £584,000 was spent on maintenance on the Filla, with around £571,000 going on the Whalsay ferry Hendra.
Nearly £510,000 was spent on the Bluemull Sound vessel Bigga, and £486,283 went towards maintaining the Bressay ferry Leirna.
There was a maintenance bill of around £377,200 for the relief vessel Fivla, nearly £200,000 for the Papa Stour ferry Snolda and just under £181,300 for Fair Isle’s Good Shepherd.
The total maintenance spend for 2025/26 was £6,970,787 – slightly higher than 2024/25, which was £6,947,941.
For the first quarter for 2026/27, four vessels have had spend reach six figures – Filla (£542,463), Dagalien (£407,954), Hendra (£197,542) and Geira (£129,546).
All of the other vessels had five-figure sums for April to June, ranging from £12,351 on the Fivla to £77,720 on the Leirna.
It comes as the SIC prepares a 30-year implementation plan for future options for its inter-island connectivity network, with tunnels in the mix for Yell and Unst, as well as Whalsay and Bressay but as a longer-term commitment.
Improvements to ferry services are also proposed across the network.
Lyall said the SIC is also working to get a new relief ferry in place as soon as possible, using a £10 million Scottish Government grant, “but it will take considerable time and investment to replace all our aging assets”.
“As was highlighted in the IITC [inter-island transport connectivity] report an estimated £581 million is required in the next 10 years just to retain the service we currently have,” she added.
“That’s why we are constantly making the case to Scottish Government for continuing and increasing support.”
Seven of the network’s eleven vessels are over 30 years old, with a number not meeting modern legislation.
The oldest in the fleet is the Hendra, which is 44 years old as of May, while the youngest are the Daggri and Dagalien at 22 years old.
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