Third accommodation barge for gas plant workers will be coming to town

A third barge to house Shetland Gas Plant personnel will be coming to Lerwick Harbour in the autumn.
Oil firm Petrofac has confirmed it has commissioned another accommodation vessel, which is expected to arrive around the third week of September.

Petrofac is now in discussion with Lerwick Port Authority as to where exactly it will berth. It is believed that Mair’s Yard, where the new fishmarket will be sited, is under consideration.

The third barge will stay in Lerwick throughout the peak construction period of the £800 million gas plant, which could last until the spring.

The new barge, or “floatel”, will be much smaller than the other two already at the harbour, accommodating only 100 people. This is fewer than half the number on each of the other two barges, the Bibby Stockholm, which has been at Morrison Dock since March, and the Kalmar, which arrived last month and is at Albert Wharf.

LPA deputy chief executive Victor Sandison said: “Full information is awaited on its [the new barge’s] requirements, including duration of the charter, so that a suitable berth can be allocated.”