Parkol have started building the new 26-metre (overall length) monohull vessel at Whitby yard. We have been awarded the contract for this work in June this year. The new vessel will replace the current ferry “Good Shepherd IV” built by J W Miller & Sons, in St Monan’s in Fife in 1986 and which has operated on the Fair Isle route since that time. She will be the fifth vessel to serve on the Fair Isle crossing and, following tradition, will be named “Good Shepherd V”. The new vessel will provide a lifeline ferry service for passengers and freight for the Fair Isle community.
Two Fair Isle residents – skipper of the Good Shepherd IV, Ian Best; and entrepreneur Marie Bruhat, along with Shetland Islands Council’s project manager for the new Fair Isle ferry, Lee Coutts, visited our yard last week and received a very warm welcome, despite the wintery weather.
Read about their visit here.
Images: Shetland Islands Council / Paul Armstrong
