According to an August 20 report from the Shetland Marine News, the capacity of an already overstretched ferry service in Shetland is likely to be cut even further this winter to meet safety regulations introduced after the Estonia disaster in 1994 when 852 people died. The current two ferry service is unable to cope with rising demand and plans to enhance it have been deferred while the authority investigates building a five mile tunnel to the isle. Now the council has said the eight year old ferry Linga must almost halve the number of passengers it carries before being modified to meet new European rules to prevent passenger vessels sinking if they suffer damage to their hull.
(Source: Shetland Marine News)