Port infrastructure for a changing North Sea
Kieran Morton, Business Development Manager, Port of Aberdeen
Modern port infrastructure plays an important role in supporting the changing needs of the offshore oil and gas industry, from operations and maintenance to subsea engineering and decommissioning. This can mean larger vessels, longer port stays, extensive laydown areas and heavier lifts.
That is what our investment in South Harbour was designed to provide.
The £420 million development has added 1.5km of deepwater berths, a 165m-wide channel and capacity for vessels up to 300m in length.
With tidally unrestricted access, 125,000 sqm of laydown area and heavy-lift quaysides, South Harbour can accommodate a wide range of offshore activity, from dive support vessels and jack-up rigs, to anchor handlers and offshore construction vessels.
Our expanded infrastructure combined with early engagement on planning port calls and projects can create greater flexibility and efficiencies for our customers. Across the port estate, most berths operate as common user areas, allowing a wide range of customers and stakeholders to utilise the facilities according to their operational requirements.
Behind the scenes, our marine and operations teams work closely together to coordinate vessel movements and allocate suitable berths for each operation. This collaborative approach, supported by an unrivalled energy and marine supply chain, helps maintain efficient operations, even when project requirements change at short notice.
That flexibility was demonstrated during a recent decommissioning project involving six port calls to discharge more than 24km of mooring chain and wire at South Harbour. Each discharge was completed ahead of the planned vessel schedule. Dave Weston, CEO of John Lawrie Metals, said: “Excellent collaboration led to a timely and efficient discharge on each port call. As always, the facilities and support from the team at Port of Aberdeen were excellent.”
Port of Aberdeen has supported the North Sea oil and gas industry for more than 50 years. Our investment in South Harbour, combined with the experience and infrastructure across the wider port, ensures we are equipped to adapt to those changing requirements and support the North Sea for years to come.
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