Aberdeen Harbour bosses say Brexit will have no impact on the Spanish contractor’s key role in their £350 million expansion project.
Michelle Handforth and Keith Young, chief executive and engineering director of Aberdeen Harbour Board respectively, said it was also unlikely to affect oil and gas industry customers well-used to dealing with political change in their key markets.
They were speaking as work continues at the new south harbour, due to be completed by mid-2020.
With more of it now visible above water, the scale of the massive project is becoming clearer by the day. About 120,000 tonnes of infill material have been placed behind huge concrete blocks, or caissons – some of the 22 that were shipped to Scotland for the project from Spain – on Dunnottar Quay.
The north breakwater has reached its total length of 2,100ft and nearly 8.5 million cubic feet of material has been laid below the water’s surface for the south breakwater to a length of almost 2,000ft.
Twelve caissons are in the Cromarty Firth waiting to be moved to Aberdeen.
Much of the construction material for the project was either locally sourced or brought in from Norway, so apart from the caissons there is no supply link to the EU.
According to Mr Young, that means no issues for Spanish contractor Dragados or its UK subsidiary after Brexit.
Ms Handforth said the UK’s exit from the EU, either with or without a deal, was unlikely to faze the port’s oil and gas industry customers.
“We are not a big container port delivering services to the rest of the UK,” she said, adding: “We serve, primarily, oil and gas markets that are probably not going to be affected.”
Aberdeen has 37 international shipping connections, 14 of which are to other European countries. AHB’s £297.7m fixed price deal with the UK arm of Madrid-based Dragados was signed in December 2016, with the figure agreed in sterling, so there is little risk of any further plunge in the pound inflating costs.