Port of Dundee targets North Sea decom market with new quayside

Scotland’s Port of Dundee has awarded a construction contract to Southbay Civil Engineering for a new quayside, designed for the North Sea oil & gas decommissioning sector. 

Forth Ports, a UK-based ports operator, said on Tuesday that Dundee’s prospects of becoming a decommissioning hub for North Sea oil & gas “took another step forward” with the appointment of the contractor to construct a new quayside at the port specifically designed to handle this work.

Forth Ports owns and operates eight commercial ports on the Firth of Forth, the Firth of Tay and the Thames: Tilbury in London, Grangemouth, Dundee, Leith in Edinburgh, Rosyth, Methil, Burntisland, and Kirkcaldy.

According to the port owner, this will be one of the largest investments in the history of the port. Forth Ports is investing more than £10 million ($12.4 million) to create a new quayside with a heavy lift capability, coupled with a significant onshore operational area at the port. This would position the port at the forefront of the North Sea oil & gas decommissioning and offshore wind sectors, said Forth Ports.

The contract with Southbay Civil Engineering entails the design and construction of the quayside in 2017. Forth Ports said that the contract began in February and that the work is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

This investment will result in the development of the quayside at the East end of the port, connecting it to the existing Prince Charles Wharf. The quayside will represent a significant increase in port capacity in the North East region.

Upon completion, the quayside will be 200 meters longer with an ultra-heavy lift pad at one end. The quayside will have a strength capability of 80 tonnes per square meter.

Forth Ports also confirmed the choice of RPS as Client Technical Advisor, Currie & Brown as Client Project Manager, and Fairhurst as Quayside Designer.

Charles Hammond, Chief Executive of Forth Ports, said: “The Forth Ports Board is fully committed to investing in the Port of Dundee to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to capitalize on the significant opportunities presented by the North Sea o&g and decommissioning sectors over the coming years.”

Paul Stephenson, Managing Director of Southbay said: “We are delighted at the award of this technically challenging project at Dundee which will allow us to further establish our reputation as one of the UK’s leading civil engineering contractors within the marine sector. Having recently delivered several smaller projects within the Port of Dundee we have established an excellent business relationship with Forth Ports.”