Shetland Islands Council has today invited expressions of interest from companies to build a new relief vessel for its fleet of inter-island ferries.
The new 33-metre Class B Ro-Ro passenger vessel will be a maximum of 500 gross tonnes and built to meet Maritime and Coastguard Agency standards.
It will be capable of operating on any of the current inter-island ferry routes, except Foula, using existing terminals, and be operated by current crews without the need for additional certification.
Councillors approved the Outline Business Case for a new relief ferry on 15 September 2025, following the earlier work of the Ferries Resilience Review.
Companies with an interest in building the vessel are invited to submit necessary documents for the first stage of the tender process by 2nd March 2026.
More details can be found the Public Contracts Scotland portal