First cruise ship since early 2020 to visit Lerwick on Monday

The first cruise ship to visit Shetland since early 2020 will arrive in Lerwick Harbour next week.

Operated by Noble Caledonia, the small MS Island Sky will berth at Victoria Pier on Monday, 19th July, with 66 passengers on board – half the capacity of the vessel.

It follows the Scottish government’s lifting of a Covid-related ban on cruise travel and the reopening of Scottish ports to cruise ships on UK-only sailings,effective from Monday.

Lerwick Port Authority chief executive Captain Calum Grains said: “We’ve been working through the many steps required with all interested parties to ensure that Covid measures are in place to protect everyone involved during cruise ship visits.”

He said the arrival of the Island Sky would be “a significant milestone in the road to recovery from Covid”.

“We only had two cruise ship visits in 2020 – in February, ahead of the industry’s voluntary suspension of calls in what should have been another record year for Lerwick, with around 100 calls.

“This year should have been even better.”