Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company

Alistair Carmichael has secured a House of Commons debate on the state of the UK fishing industry for next Thursday and, ahead of that, he has called on all with an interest in fishing to “make their voices heard”.

In a lesson for those planning new building projects, including a possible new hospital for Shetland, the budget for the Baird Family Hospital and the Anchor Centre, the new maternity and cancer facilities in Aberdeen, is now estimated at £420 million, over three times the £134 million originally planned.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Shetland in the Scottish parliament elections in May, Emma Macdonald, has responded to the Scottish government’s draft budget announcement on Tuesday, including scrapping peak fares on NorthLink and the accelerator model of funding for Shetland.

The coastguard helicopter based at Sumburgh has been on an NHS helicopter patient transfer.

White fish box landings: 5 boats landed about 400 boxes. Pelagic fish landings: Landing mackerel at Lerwick is the Banff Resolute to be followed by the Fraserburgh Cristina S and the Fraserburgh Grateful.

Speaking at stage 1 in the debate in the Scottish parliament on the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill, Beatrice Wishart emphasised the importance of crofting to Shetland and the rest of the Highlands and Islands, and the need for wider reform.

It has emerged that First Minister John Swinney was not told that the 333 metre very large crude carrier Marinera, formerly the Bella-1, and the 127 metre US coastguard cutter Munro were to come to the Scottish waters of the Moray Firth for bunkers and stores for the Marinera. The sanctioned Marinera had been passing between Shetland and Faroe, heading for Murmansk, when it diverted to west of Faroe to rendezvous with a Russian submarine where it was boarded by US forces and taken under US command.