Further investment underway to reinforce lead.Projects totalling around £1.2 million are underway at Lerwick Harbour to enhance the Shetland port’s facilities for handling the decommissioning of offshore production platforms.

In the latest initiative, around £200,000 is being invested by Lerwick Port Authority in additional quay strengthening for decommissioning activity at the Greenhead Base. Following recent deliveries of steel and a start on-site later this month, the contract awarded to local company, Tulloch Developments, is scheduled for completion in mid-February.

The Port Authority also has plans to dredge the harbour’s north entrance next year to improve access for barges transporting decommissioned components from offshore to Greenhead.

Allan Wishart, Chief Executive of Lerwick Port Authority, said: “The quay strengthening project now underway is an example of our commitment to helping ensure that Shetland secures and sustains a lead role in the UK in the decommissioning of offshore structures.”

The upgrade of extensive facilities already in place at the port follows Shetland’s success in winning a share of the major contract to remove installations from the Frigg Field and the potential for further projects.

The Port Authority’s investment complements SBS Logistics Ltd’s programme of improvements well advanced at its Greenhead Base, with construction of a decommissioning pad and controlled discharge areas at a cost of approximately £1 million, including 10% assistance from Shetland Enterprise.

SBS is part of a consortium, led by Aker Kvaerner and including Onyx UK, which won the £250 million Frigg contract to decommission the gas installations which will be brought ashore in Lerwick and Norway. Shetland’s share will be around 20,000 tonnes of steel and other materials over three years, starting in 2006.

The multi-purpose support base, adjacent to deep-water quays at Greenhead, has six berths, with up to nine metres water depth, fabrication, engineering works, offices and warehousing, plus open storage and laydown area.

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