James Cook
Scottish Editor
Report on Cala Berkeley in the Faroe Islands
BBC News
Faroe Islands BBC Report
The 18 islands that make up Farrow are connected by 23 tunnels, four of which run under the sea
Prime Minister Fallows says Shetland can pursue his country to revive island life and revitalize island life as he replaces aged ferries with undersea tunnels.
The Shetland Islands Council says it is pushing for plans to build tunnels on four outer islands of the archipelago, including the UK’s northernmost location.
“I think we’ve learned that investment in infrastructure is a good investment in the Faroe Islands,” Axel Johannesun told BBC News.
The Shetland Islands Council says the multi-million pound project will be funded by borrowing money and paying tolls, and could offer new transport models to other Scottish islands.
Fallows Prime Minister Axel Johannesen said the BBC News Tunnel helped increase the population and economy of the crowd
Critics say that Scottish politicians have spoken about tunnels for many years, but Fallows, nearly 200 miles from the Atlantic, actually built them.
“It’s frustrating,” says An Anderson of Scottish Sea Farm, a salmon producer who employs nearly 700 people in Scotland, including just under 300 Shetland.
The island chain produces a quarter of all Scottish salmon, the UK’s most valuable food export to sell internationally in 2024.
“Ten years ago, Scottish salmon had 10% of the global market. Today we are approaching 5%,” adds Ms Anderson.
She agrees that the UK should look to Fallows for inspiration.
“Identify what works for them, then copy and paste and move on,” urges Ms Anderson.
Anne Anderson of the Scottish sea farm says politicians should move
They have been building tunnels in Fallows since the 1960s.
The 18 islands that make up the autonomous state under Danish sovereignty are connected by 23 tunnels, four of which run under the sea.
More is under construction.
The most dramatic is a 7.1 mile (11.4 km) tunnel that connects Straymoy to either side of the fjord on Eistroy.
It includes the only seabed roundabout in the world.
At the deepest point, it is 187m (614 feet) below the waves, halving driving time between the capital Torshavn and the second largest town, Kraxvik.
The tunnel connecting Straymoy and Eistroy Islands contains the world’s only undersea roundabout, nicknamed jellyfish.
Johannesen says the tunnel helped increase the population and economy of the archipelago, a base of around 54,000 people, as opposed to Shetland’s 23,000 people.
“It’s about ambition,” says Andy Sloan, the tunnel builder.
He added that the islands have “lead the world in connecting archipelagos in the middle of the North Atlantic through blood, sweat, tears and focus.
“They provided an incredible infrastructure,” says Sloan, executive vice president of engineering firm Cowi.
He is currently advising Shetland Islands Council on technology and funding for the tunnel.
Farrow’s tunnels were built using a technique known as drills and explosions. There, holes are drilled with rocks, explosives are dropped, and tiles are cleaned up. Sloan said it could also be used in Scotland.
“No doubt, Shetland can copy what has been achieved on these islands,” he adds.
Tunnel Builder Andys Lone was working on Fallow’s Tunnel
Professor Erica Anne Hayfield, director of the Faculty of History and Social Sciences at the University of the Faroe Islands, says the tunnels have had great benefits.
“People can live and thrive in smaller settlements,” she explains, fully participating in island life and commuting to Tórshavn’s “central labor market.”
“In the long run, many people on the island believe that it is necessary in terms of demographics and social sustainability,” adds Professor Hayfield.
But she said the costs of some tunnels are controversial and some Farrows claim they are being built at the expense of investing in schools and hospitals.
The capital Tórshavn has been a shorter commute for the islanders since the construction of the tunnel network
While Lerwick, the main town of Shetland, may be closer to Trushav than Edinburgh and closer to Copenhagen than London, tunnel supporters argue that the islands are not remote backwaters but rather advanced economies constrained by poor infrastructure.
At the confluence of the North Sea and the Atlantic, the archipelago of 100 islands boasts the only UK space and thriving fisheries.
“We’ll land fish in Shetland more than we do in England, Northern Ireland and Wales,” says Council leader Emma McDonald.
“Tunnels can be incredibly transformed,” she continues.
McDonald adds: “We’re really excited about this opportunity.”
The oil and gas boom of the 20th century brought Shetland’s wealth, but the islands embraced the transition to renewable energy and are home to Britain’s most productive onshore wind farms.
“Shetland is really essential to Scotland and the wider UK,” says McDonald.
The council has approved a £990,000 feasibility study on the construction of tunnels on four islands, Unst, Yell, Bressay and Whalsay.
Estimated construction costs have not yet been made public.
Elizabeth Johnson says the tunnel “enhances the island’s economic viability.”
“The tunnels will really open this island for businesses,” says Elizabeth Johnson, foreign affairs manager at UNST’s Saxavord Spaceport.
She added that they “enhance the economic viability of the island.”
However, since neither the Scottish or the UK government volunteers to pay for the Shetland tunnel, Fallow’s financial model of borrowing paid by fees appears likely to be adopted.
“I think people probably realize there’s a need for traffic, and I think people understand that,” says McDonald.
She adds: “They already have to pay to go to the ferry.”
The council currently operates ferry services on nine islands, carrying around 12 ships annually at a cost of £23 million.
The average age of the fleet is 31.5 years old, and costs have risen sharply over the past decade, with some routes struggling to meet vehicle demand.
The Hebrideen and Clyde Ferries, run by Caledonian McBrain, owned by the Scottish government in western Scotland, are aging and plagued by problems.
The 18 islands that make up the autonomous state under Denmark’s sovereignty are connected by 23 tunnels
Sloan says the tunnel can provide a more robust transport link to the West Coast and the North Island.
“Frankly, it can be repeated in Shetland, not just in Shetland, but perhaps elsewhere in Scotland.”
Sloan agrees that tolls are the most feasible financing option.
After a long-term, non-payment campaign, tolls were removed at Skybridge in 2004 and discarded at Force and Taylor Bridge in 2008.
But Ms Johnson of Saxavord Spaceport believes that Shetlanders will be willing to pay in her own way.
“I don’t think anyone I’ve spoken to would oppose to tolls,” she says.
Farrows’ four tunnels run under the sea
There is no systematic opposition to the Shetland tunnel, but locals have expressed concern about whether it will change what it means to be an island.
Pat Burns runs the northernmost store of British Isles, the final check-out of UNST.
She was initially unsure of the tunnel, so she feared that they would change the nature of life on the island.
“I like the challenge of trying to get from A to B,” she explains.
But after years of worrying about bad weather interrupting supplies for her shop and seeing tourists turn away because the ferries were full, she changed her mind.
“I was a bit crazy about it before,” she says.
