‘Zebra’ barge leaves Lerwick Harbour

The Sans Vitesse ‘zebra’ accommodation barge has left Lerwick Harbour.

She has been a conspicuous – and, to many, unpopular – landmark at the Small Boat Harbour for the last two-and-a-half years but is now heading for a new berth at Sella Ness to provide accommodation for workers in the oil and gas industry.

The barge arrived in Shetland in September 2013 under charter to Petrofac and was used to house workers employed on the construction of the Shetland Gas Plant. She has 101 cabins with en suite facilities over three floors and also includes a laundry, bar and restaurant.

Facilities management company Shetland FM has agreed a two-year lease on the barge. It had been hoped the move would take place in early-April but there were delays while work was done to prepare her.

When she arrived in Lerwick in 2013 Sans Vitesse was berthed for a short time at Mair’s Quay before moving to the Small Boat Harbour. That was not the barge’s first visit to the isles – she was at the port supporting a pipeline project in 2001.