The work involved cutting the ferry in half and inserting a newly built section amidships, as well as a general overhaul which included upgraded passenger and crew spaces, uprated engines, replacement of the steering/propulsion units and the addition of a second bow thruster.

An earlier one was a former naval ferry (originally MFV 1258) operating from Houton to Lyness.

She was sold to the Orkney Island Shipping Company in 1986 and superseded in 1991 by Thorsvoe, remaining as the secondary ferry to the South Isles until the introduction of Hoy Head (IV) in 1994.

[6] Steamship Hoy Head, built by Abercorn Shipbuilding Co. of Paisley, was launched on 18 October 1883 and sank off Cornwall on 12 November 1887.

These have no external windows and in favourable weather passengers, particularly tourists during summer season, often use the high-level open side decks.