Hans J Marter

14 October, 2009

A NEW era for Lerwick harbour was launched yesterday (Tuesday) when Scottish transport minister Stewart Stevenson officially opened the port’s £12 million dredging and land reclamation project.

Port managers are confident that the "largest investment the port authority has ever undertaken" will bring new business from the oil production and decommissioning industries, as well as from the emerging renewables sector and fishing.

The port had initially hoped to have the dredging completed by 2005, but a bitter row with Shetland Islands Council delayed the work by three years and added an extra £5 million to the overall bill.

The council wanted to build a bridge across the port to link the island of Bressay to Lerwick, a plan that would have interfered with the port's ambition to widen the access channel to allow larger vessels to enter the harbour.

With the court ruling in favour of the port and the bridge project now off the table, there was little desire to go over old ground again, but to spell out the opportunities the dredging is expected to bring for Lerwick and the whole of Shetland.

During a reception at the Holmsgarth ferry terminal, speaker after speaker congratulated the port for its vision to invest into the future.

The transport minister, who arrived on board the NorthLink ferry Hjaltland the same morning, was keen to point out the importance of Lerwick harbour for a number of Scottish industries.

"All parts of Scotland have the opportunity to contribute to sustainable economic growth. That is our central purpose. So this development here helps that for Shetland.

"Shetland of course has done very well out of the oil industry over the past 30 years. This helps them continue to gain economic benefit from the next phase of North Sea oil and, of course, have a port that can support offshore wind and other developments in tidal energy," he said.

The dredging and subsequent land reclamation to the north of Lerwick harbour provides a minimum of nine metres of water depth north to south through the entire harbour, and also a deepened North Channel and widened the north entrance at the Greenhead Base.

The project should enhance Lerwick's role in the offshore industry, but also give benefits to the fishing industry with a new fish market one of the projects planned in the next decade.

Port chief executive Sandra Laurenson said Lerwick harbour supported around 2,500 jobs in the isles, and these have now become more secure.

She added: "We already have established Lerwick as a centre for decommissioning of offshore structures and we are keen to see that continuing in the future, as well as continuing to provide support for the offshore oil and gas fields east and west of Shetland, and also the emerging renewables sector that are all looking for deepwater port infrastructure."

She described the three years delay as "unfortunate" and was keen to emphasise that this was now in the past and the port had the chance to move on.

Councillor Iris Hawkins, the newly appointed chairwoman of the council's infrastructure committee, did likewise and congratulated the port on its success.

She said: "The relationship between the council and the port authority is reasonably healthy and, like all partnerships, may have glitches from time to time. That is to be expected.

"Dredging should bring prosperity and employment to the area, and that has to be welcomed," she said.

Westminster Dredging completed the £12 million project on time and within budget in summer last year.

A compensation claim for just over £5 million against Shetland Islands Council is being considered by the council's lawyers.