Arriving with a cargo of oilfield materials from Mauritania, Hartmann Project Lines’ 160 m leviathan beat previous record holder Skandi Arctic by 488 tonnes. “Our ability to accommodate vessels of this size is thanks to a programme of strategic engineering work, completed in 2012, which widened and deepened the navigation channel,” said Colin Parker, chief executive of the Aberdeen Harbour.
The harbour board is using the news to promote a proposed £320m ($515m) development being proposed for Nigg Bay, near Inverness, which calls for a wider and deeper access channel for larger vessels. “It illustrates a trend towards bigger, more efficient vessels requiring access to Aberdeen and further reinforces the need for the development of a second, deeper port facility at Nigg Bay, if the North East of Scotland is to remain economically competitive.”
Chiming with recent remarks in Westminster about rebalancing the North and South of the UK, the Nigg Bay development, which would begin in 2017, is projected to increase economic activity at the port to an annual £2bn, and create 7,000 jobs, over the following 20 years.
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