The Orkney Islands are considering leaving Scotland and becoming part of Norway after "failure" from the SNP government.
First Minister Humza Yousaf faces losing the archipelago with a motion is set to go before Orkney councillors to investigate "alternative forms of governance" for the islands.
The council will look at changing their status in the UK by breaking away from Scotland or become a self-governing territory of Norway.
Council leader James Stockan explained that the reason behind the abrupt plans to leave Scotland was due to a lack of funding coming from both the Holyrood and Westminster governments.
Council leader James Stockan said the islands were being 'failed dreadfully' by the SNP and Tory administrations
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He added that the islands were being "failed dreadfully" by the SNP and Conservative administrations.
The motion will go ahead next week before a vote is held on whether Orkney wants to break away from Scotland and the UK.
Islanders have been looking at examples of self-governing islands from across the globe, including Crown Dependencies like the Channel Islands, and overseas territories like the Falkland Islands.
The regions only rely on Britain for defence and foreign affairs.
Councillor Stockan suggested they could even be like the Faroe Islands, which is a self-governing territory of Denmark, but also a country in its own right.
"We are really struggling at the moment, we have to replace the whole ferry fleet which is older than the CalMac fleet," he told the BBC.
"We are denied the things that other areas get like RET (Road Equivalent Tariff) for ferry fares.
"And the funding we get from the Scottish government is significantly less per head than Shetland and the Western Isles to run the same services - we can't go on as we are."
Stockan has vowed to look at whether Orkney can become self-sustainable through north sea oil and wind projects.
Stockan has vowed to look at whether Orkney can become self-sustainable through north sea oil and wind projects
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"We know that we have contributed for the last 40 years through north sea oil, and the dividend we get back isn't sufficient to keep us going," he said.
"We've got a unique opportunity right at the heart of all the wind projects round our waters."
Orkney was previously held under Norwegian and Danish control until it became part of Scotland in 1472.
Stockan added: "We were part of the Norse kingdom for much longer than we were part of the United Kingdom.
"On the street in Orkney people come up and say to me when are we going to pay back the dowry, when are we going back to Norway. There is a hug affinity and a huge deep cultural relationship there. This is exactly the moment to explore what is possible."