Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Video: First vessel ports at new South Harbour

Subsea 7’s Seven Atlantic dive support vessel berthed in the Port of Aberdeen's new south harbour on Saturday.
Subsea 7’s Seven Atlantic dive support vessel berthed in the Port of Aberdeen's new south harbour on Saturday.

The Port of Aberdeen welcomed the first commercial vessel to its new south harbour on Saturday, as construction of the £400 million expansion project  continues.

Subsea 7’s Seven Atlantic dive support vessel safely berthed at Dunnottar Quay to change over the crew, offload project equipment and stock up on provisions after completing inspection, repair and maintenance work for North Sea oil and gas company, EnQuest.

The vessel will return to south harbour later in the month for annual routine maintenance.

Milestone for new harbour

Port of Aberdeen project director Keith Young said: “This is an important milestone for the project and a reflection of the hard work and collaboration from everyone involved.

“We are focused on being fully operational by the end of October and ensuring new and existing customers benefit from this world-class facility.”

The Seven Atlantic in south harbour.
The dive support vessel enters the harbour.
Photo: Ross Johnston/Newsline Media

The Seven Atlantic’s arrival marks a “soft start” to operations at south harbour, which can now accommodate vessels at a complete section of Dunnottar Quay which is 1,300 ft (400m) long, 100 ft (30m) wide and has a berth depth of 35 ft  (-10.5m).

Port of Aberdeen bosses said the development is on track for its official opening and will be operational by the end of October 2022.

Dunnottar Quay, Crathes Quay and Castlegate Quay will be complete and available to port users at that point.

Photo: Ross Johnston/Newsline Media

However, construction of the major port expansion project will not conclude until May or June next year when the remaining Balmoral Quay is brought into service.

Harbour bosses decided to reintroduce the west quay to the South Harbour plan after it had been dropped during the pandemic.

New south harbour key part of bid

The expanded Port of Aberdeen is a key player of the North East Scotland Green Freeport bid, which is expected could create up to 32,000 jobs, boost GVA by £8.5 billion and transform the region into the “net zero capital of Europe”.

Port of Aberdeen chief executive Bob Sanguinetti welcomed the arrival of the vessel.

Chief executive of Port of Aberdeen Bob Sanguinetti. Photo by Kenny Elrick

“The £400 million port expansion will transform our capabilities, help to develop high potential sectors, such as offshore wind and green hydrogen, and unlock growth in the trade and maritime sector.

“South Harbour is an asset of national strategic significance for the Scottish and UK
Governments.

“Green freeport status for north-east Scotland is essential if we’re to maximise
the economic benefit of the project for the local community and the national economy.”

Port of Aberdeen harbour master Alex McIntosh, right, presented a commemorative plaque to Captain Matthew Finneran Photo: Ross Johnston/Newsline Media.

Alan Black, projects and operations director for Subsea 7, said the firm was “honoured” to be the first commercial vessel in the new harbour.

He said: “The scale, breadth and depth of the south harbour facilities creates sustainable efficiencies for our vessel operations and ensures Subsea 7, along with the local supply chain, continue to support the offshore energy sector in Scotland and the wider UK as we transition toward net-zero.”

WATCH: Seven Atlantic’s arrival at Port of Aberdeen south harbour and her crew

<iframe src=”

https://player.vimeo.com/video/726723542?h=d7d7c46009

Conversation