28 August, 2007

THE PROJECT team behind a proposed new ferry link between Norway, Shetland and the UK mainland is re-advertising to allow more companies to express an interest in the service.

Earlier this month, NORSHUKON managers reported that they had received four expressions of interests in their proposed ro-pax service.

Yesterday (Monday) they published a new timetable, which they said was drawn up due to revised timescales for access to European subsidies. This has also allowed them to re-open the tendering process, they said.

A statement from the consortium said: "The decision to re-open the process was also taken as a result of the large number of expressions of interest which were received after the initial deadline."

Project managers were however unable to say precisely how many more expressions of interests had been received.

NORSHUKON is a partnership between the Norwegian Møregruppen AS, Shetland Development Trust and the Shetland transport partnership ZetTrans.

Møregruppen AS is a group of private and public bodies that is keen to create a ferry service linking the busy port of Kristiansund with a UK mainland port that would provide onward links to the European continent.

That way large amounts of freight could be taken off the road and shifted to a "Motorway of the Sea".

Shetland is involved in the project because islanders are keen to re-establish a link with their Scandinavian neighbours, which will be lost next month when the Faroese superferry Norröna visits Lerwick harbour on its regular schedule for last time.

The project team hopes any shipping company interested in running the proposed service could tap into pots of European funding for services envisaged to start in 2009.

Any companies keen to express their interest have now until 10 September to do so. NORSHUKON said that by 12 September invitations to tender would be issued to those shortlisted.

The project partners hope to have a preferred bidder in place by the end of October.