Shtland Eyes Faroes-style tunnels to replace aging ferries

The Farea prime minister says Shetland can strengthen growth and revive island life by following its country in replacing aging ferry with underwater tunnels.

The Shtland Islands Council says it is moving forward with plans to build tunnels up to four remote islands in the archipelago, including Unst, the most nier of the UK.

“I think we have learned in the Faroe Islands that investments in infrastructure are a good investment,” Axel Johanne said to BBC News.

The Shtland Islands Council says its project with many million pounds is likely to be funded by borrowing money and paying tolls, which potentially provides a new transport model for other Scottish islands.

Critics say politicians in Scotland have wasted years, talking about tunnels, while Faros, nearly 200 miles, in the Atlantic, have actually built them.

“It’s disappointing,” says Ann Anderson of Salmon Scottish Sea Farms manufacturer, which employs nearly 700 people in Scotland, including just under 300 in Shetland.

The island chain produces a quarter of all Scottish salmon – UK the most precious export of food With international sales of £ 844 million in 2024.

“Ten years ago, the Scottish salmon had 10 percent of the world market. Nowadays, we slip more and more than five percent,” adds G -Anderson, who partly blames this slide, for lack of investment in public infrastructure.

She agrees that the United Kingdom must look at Faroes for inspiration.

“Determine what works well for them, and then just copy and put and let’s move,” G -Ja Anderson urges.

They have been building tunnels in Pharos since the 60s.

The 18 islands that make up the self-governing nation under Denmark sovereignty are 23 tunnelsFour of which run under the sea.

They are more in the process of construction.

The most dramatic tunnel is 7.1 miles (11.4 km), which connects Straimi Island with two sides of a fjord on the island of Aisturoi.

It includes the only underwater roundabout in the world.

At its deepest point is 187 m (614 feet) under the waves and halved the driving time between the capital Torshavn and the second largest city of Kladxvik.

Speaking to his office of mass coverage, looking at a loaded harbor in Torshavn, Johannese says that the tunnels have helped to grow the population and the economy of the archipelago, which is home to about 54,000 people, unlike 23,000 to Shetland.

“It’s about ambition,” says tunnel builder Andy Sloan, whose company has worked on part of the Farreur tunnel project.

He added that the islands led the world, “when connecting an archipelago in the middle of the North Atlantic, through blood, sweat and tears – and focus.

“They have delivered a remarkable piece of infrastructure,” says Mr. Sloan, who is the executive vice president of the engineering company Cowi.

He is now advising the Shetland Islands Council on the technical characteristics and financing of tunnels.

The Farean tunnels are constructed using a technique known as drilling and explosion – where the holes are drilled into a rock, the explosives are released and the rubble is then cleared – which is also said to be used in Scotland.

“Undoubtedly, Shetland can copy the achievements on these islands,” he adds.

Prof. Erika Ann Hiffeland, Dean of the Faculty of History and Social Sciences at the University of Faroe Islands, says the tunnels have brought significant benefits.

“People can live and thrive in smaller settlements,” while they are still fully in island life and travel to the “central labor market” in torshaw, she explains.

“In the long run, in terms of demographics, social sustainability, many people on the islands think it is necessary,” added Prof. Heyfield.

But she said the cost of some tunnels were controversial, with some Faroese claiming that they were being built at the expense of investing in schools and hospitals.

The main city of Shetland, Lervik, may be closer to Torshavn than in Edinburgh – and closer to Copenhagen from London – but the advocates of the tunnels insist that the islands are not remote rear water but an advanced economy limited by poor infrastructure.

The 100 Islands Archipelago at the North Sea and the Atlantic merger can boast of The only cosmic composition of the United Kingdom And a thriving fishing industry.

“We are landing more fish in Shetland than in all of England, Northern Ireland and Wales,” said Council leader Emma McDonald.

“The tunnels can be incredibly transformative,” she continues.

McDonald adds, “We are really excited about the opportunity.”

Oil and gas boom of the 20th century Brought a rich to Shetland But since then the islands have embraced the transition to renewable energy and are home to the United Kingdom The most productive on the shore wind farmS

“Shetland is indeed an integral part of Scotland and for the wider Britain,” McDonald says.

The Council has authorized a survey of the feasibility of 990,000 British pounds to build tunnels connecting the main island of Shetland with four remote islands – Unst, calls, Bressay and Whalsay.

He has not yet published an estimated price for construction or timeframe, but a source close to the discussions told BBC News that a detailed report on how tunnels can be delivered and funded will be completed early next year with decisions to follow later in 2026.

“The tunnels would really open this island for the business,” says Elizabeth Johnson, a Saxavord Spaceport foreign manager at UNT.

She adds that they will “improve the economic viability of the island.”

But since neither the governments of Scotland nor the United Kingdom will voluntarily pay for the Shetland tunnels, it seems that the model of funding for a taxi paid by fees will probably be accepted.

“I think people admit that there is probably a taxi and I think people understand it,” McDonald says.

She adds, “They already have to pay to go to the ferries.”

Currently, the Council manages ferry services to nine islands, carrying about 750,000 passengers each year to 12 ships at a price of £ 23 million a year.

The navy average is 31.5 years, the costs have increased sharply over the last decade, and some routes are struggling to satisfy the demand for vehicles.

Hebrides and Clyde Ferries, to the west of Scotland, run by Scottish Government Caledon McBrain, also get up and have been problemsS

Sloan says the tunnels can provide healthier transport connections for the west coast, as well as for the Northern Islands.

“Honestly, it can be repeated in Shetland, not just Shetland, probably elsewhere in Scotland.”

Sloan agrees that tolls are the most possible financing option.

The fees were removed on the Skye Bridge in 2004. After a long -paying non -payment campaign and were defective on Forth and Tay Road bridges in 2008.

But d -Johnson, from Saxavord Spaceport, thinks Shetlanders will be glad to pay his way.

“I don’t think anyone I talked to would be against road taxes,” she says.

Although there is no organized opposition to the tunnels in Shetland, some locals are concerned about whether they would change what it means to be an island.

Pat Burns runs the most sophisticated store in the British Isles, the last UNT box office.

At first she was not convinced of the tunnels, fearing that they would change the nature of island life.

“I like the challenges of trying to get from A to B,” she explains.

However, after years of worrying about the bad weather, interrupting deliveries to their store and seeing tourists to turn because the ferries are full, it changed its decision.

“I used to be a little Iph-si to do it before,” she says, “but now I realize that if Untn doesn’t get a tunnel, the challenge will be too big.”