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Dark blue water in the foreground with low green Bressay shoreline and scattered houses under a blue sky — SS Glenisla, Shetland

Shetland · United Kingdom · Wreck

SS Glenisla

Upright, largely intact steamer in the middle of Bressay Sound

Photo: PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) · CC BY-SA 4.0

The SS Glenisla is a 1423-ton steamer that sank in the middle of Bressay Sound, in the shipping channel off Lerwick, after a collision with the SS Glenelg. She sits upright and largely intact on a seabed at 45 m, and Lerwick Port Authority has designated the wreck a protected site.

Also known as Glenisla.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of SS Glenisla: typical dive to 45 m (to 148 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit45 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 60 m (197 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

60.1509° N, 1.1255° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The Glenisla settled upright with her bows facing north and her hull largely intact. The seabed around her lies at 45 m, so the whole dive is a deep one along a steamer that still holds her shape.

The wreck

Vessel
Glenisla
Type
1423-ton steamer
Cause
Collision with the SS Glenelg
Lies
Upright and largely intact in 45 m in the Bressay Sound shipping channel, bows facing north

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for SS Glenisla
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
FairFairFairFairFairPrimePrimePrimeFairFairFairFair

Season follows Shetland: Shetland's liveaboard diving runs as a summer season, from June to August.

Know before you go

  • The wreck lies in the Bressay Sound shipping channel, so surface traffic passes overhead.

Dive videos

The wreck of the SS Glenisla, Shetland · Dory Video on YouTube

Sources

  1. Lerwick recreational diving — Orkney and Shetland Charters
  2. OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap

Photo credits

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