Shetland Islands Council Ferries (often named SIC Ferries) is a company operating inter-island

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

services in

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

, a subarctic archipelago off the northeast coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The company operates services across 10 of the Shetland islands.

Services

Services of the SIC Ferries are: *''Bluemull service'' linking the North Isles at

Gutcher Gutcher is a settlement on the northeast coast of Yell, Shetland, Yell in the Shetland islands. From here, rollon/roll off ferry services to Belmont, Shetland, Belmont on Unst and Hamars Ness on Fetlar operate. The settlement has a harbour, and a ...

, Yell; Belmont,

Unst Unst (; ) is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third-largest island in Shetland after Shetland Mainland, Mainland and Yell (island), Yell. It has an area o ...

; and Hamars Ness, Fetlar. This is done in a triangular service, where one ferry mostly operates between Belmont and Gutcher, with a few trips to Fetlar, and other is based in Fetlar and makes a few daytime trips between Gutcher and Belmont. *''Bressay service'' to the Isle of

Bressay Bressay is a populated island in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland. Geography and geology Bressay lies due south of Whalsay, west of the Isle of Noss, and north of Mousa. With an area of , it is the fifth-largest island in Shetland. The po ...

from

Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...

on the

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

. *''Fair Isle service'' to

Fair Isle Fair Isle ( ; ), sometimes Fairisle, is the southernmost Shetland island, situated roughly from the Shetland Mainland and about from North Ronaldsay (the most northerly island of Orkney). The entire archipelago lies off the northernmost coa ...

from Grutness or

on the Mainland. *''Foula service'' to the Isle of

Foula Foula (), located in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland, is one of the United Kingdom's most remote permanently inhabited islands. The liner RMS ''Oceanic'' was wrecked on the Shaalds of Foula in 1914. Foula was the location for the film '' Th ...

from

Walls Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure * Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places * Walls, Louisiana, United States * Walls, Mississippi, United States *Walls, Ontario Perry is a township (Canada), ...

on the Mainland. This service is operated by BK Marine, a Shetland-based workboat hire company. *''Out Skerries service'' to the Isle of Out Skerries from

Symbister Symbister is the largest village and port on Whalsay, an island in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland. The population in 1991 was 797. The focus of the village is the harbour, which is home to small Fishing vessel, fishing boats as well as larg ...

(on Whalsay), Vidlin or

both on the Mainland. *''Papa Stour service'' to the Isle of

Papa Stour Papa Stour is one of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, with a population of fifteen people, some of whom immigrated after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area of 828 hectares (3.2 ...

from West Burrafirth on the Mainland. *''Whalsay service'' to

on the Isle of Whalsay from Laxo, or Vidlin depending on weather conditions, on the Mainland. *''Yell service'' to Ulsta on the North Isle of Yell from Toft on the Mainland.

Current Fleet

The SIC Ferries fleet of 12 ferries consists of:

Previous Fleet

The following vessels used to be part of the SIC ferries fleet, information left blank is unknown:

Proposed Future Fleet

New Vessel

On 13 February 2025, the council revealed that they are looking into building a new vessel, which would possibly replace or operate alongside the current relief vessel, MV ''Fivla''. This came after the Scottish Government gave the council £10 million funding for island connectivity, which will be used for this project. They put a due date for end of 2028, at which point the oldest vessel in the fleet will be 46 years old. Maritime unions and locals have expressed concerns over this fact due to ferries normally only having a lifespan of 25 years and half the fleet having a grandfather clause allowing them to have passenger accommodation below the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. A waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is parallel to the water's surface when the ship is afloat in a level trimmed position. Hence, wate ...

, making it inaccessible to many people. The council later came with a second option to make a vessel similar to MV ''Linga'', which would operate alongside her at Whalsay, with MV ''Hendra'' then becoming a second spare vessel.

Fair Isle

In January 2023, £26.7 million was awarded by the UK Government, as part of the ' levelling up' fund, to the Shetland Islands Council for the purchase of a new ro-ro ferry for

and new terminals at both the Grutness and

ports, including linkspans. The new ferry is expected to be similar to the MV ''Snolda'', with 25m length and capacity for about 4 cars and a crane. The work is due to be completed by April 2026. Works began at Grutness pier to facilitate this new vessel on 30 April 2025, with all Fair Isle sailings going to

until they are completed. The contract was awarded to Parkol Marine Engineering, Whitby, Yorkshire on 10 June 2025, with an expected delivery date of October 2026. The vessel will be a faster and bigger monohull that will have additional lift on capability and ability to operate to the current linkspans.

Papa Stour

There is also a project involving Coastal Workboats and BK Marine to trial a fully electric ro-ro ferry between West Burrafirth and

. The cost of project will be roughly £9 million, with £6 million of which funded by the UK Government's Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition. This trial is due to last 4 weeks from March 2025, in hope of it taking full time service, where it would take over from the regular vessel, MV ''Snolda'', for the trial period. In April 2025, it was announced that the project will no longer take place on the Papa Stour route. The island community previously presented their concerns for the project going ahead with little to no consultation.

References

External links

SIC Ferries Official Site
{{Scottish Ferry Operators Ferry companies of Scotland Transport in Shetland Companies owned by municipalities of Scotland Companies based in Shetland