Bressay ferry service suspended

UPDATE: The Bressay ferry, MV Leirna is now back in service after council engineers repaired a defective engine component which had taken the vessel out of service earlier in the day (Tuesday). A dive survey of the hull found no damage had been caused when the ferry ran aground in Bressay this morning.

Bressay’s ferry service has been suspended after the ferry operating the route MV Leirna ran aground near the Bressay ferry terminal this morning (Tuesday).

The incident occurred at around 11am after the vessel experienced an engine failure while approaching the berth.

The Lerwick Port Authority pilot boat, Knab, took the boat under tow and brought her back to berth in Lerwick where the vehicles on board had to reverse off. There were no injuries to passengers on board.

Divers will inspect the vessel to check for damage to the hull while council engineers are assessing the reason for the engine failure.

Crossings on the route are currently suspended, awaiting the findings of those examinations, and the council’s ferries services apologised for the disruption.