The Shetland Islands Could Be Getting an Underwater Tunnel for Transportation

If you don’t know, Shetland sits at the top of Scotland. It is a huge island made of 100 islands, but only 16 of the islands are inhabited by humans. Even though there currently is a ferry service, building an underwater sea tunnel could be more effective. The underwater tunnels will likely cost around 1.5bn euros, and many councilors think building more ferry services is much cheaper than replacing with the tunnel.

According to BBC, “Shetland isn’t the first group of islands to think about building tunnels. The Faroe Islands already have them, tunnels there were built as early as the 1960s.” Because of this, the Faroe Islands now have more than 20 tunnels, but only four of them run under the sea. If the plans get approved, we might have underwater tunnels connected from Shetland’s mainland to Yell, and from Yell to Unst.

There is a possibility that the islands of Whalsay and Bressay will also build them. According to BBC, “The council hopes the new links will not only save money, but also increase opportunities for businesses and tourism across the islands too.” If the councilors and the others agree, then residents may be able to see underwater tunnels become a reality within the next 8 years. Councilors have backed initial plans to connect some of Shetland’s islands with undersea tunnels, which will be easy for people to get around the islands.