News / Harbour marks 50 years of oil traffic
THIS WEEK marks 50 years since a milestone which transformed the face of Lerwick harbour forever.
Two seismic survey ships operating to the east of Shetland sought shelter in the port – thought to be its first involvement with the North Sea oil and gas industry.
A Shetland Times report dated 3 July 1964 reveals that the US ship Cedar Creek and Runmond III, from Holland, had been stormbound in Lerwick the previous weekend before heading for Norway.
The two ships, carrying out surveys for Western Geophyiscal on behalf of a British petroleum company, are believed to have been the first oil-related vessels to call at the start of Shetland’s transformational relationship with the industry which continues to this day.
Lerwick Port Authority harbourmaster Calum Grains explained that oil-related ships were not recorded from general ships during the 1960s – they only began being categorised in the 1970s.
“Research by our staff and recollections from the then shipping agent at Hay & Co led to these two vessels, which are believed to be the first oil-related ships into Lerwick,” Grains said.
“By way of comparison, Cedar Creek, at 151 gross tonnes, is around the size of the port’s current vessel, Kebister. The then fairly new stern trawler, Runmond III, at 241 gross tonnes, is comparable to a modern local whitefish vessel.
“Seismic ships now calling at Lerwick can be significantly larger – some Ramform vessels weigh in at over 10,000 tonnes.”
The first wells were drilled east of Shetland in 1971 and the first to the west in 1972. The impetus for Lerwick harbour to play a major role came later that decade with the development of East Shetland Basin fields including Brent and Ninian.
Since oil vessels were first categorised in the port’s records in the 1970s, around 40,000 have called in Lerwick, which has been transformed into a leading support centre for the industry.
“No one could have guessed then what these two vessels heralded for Shetland in oil and gas activity and the impact on the economy and community over the next five decades,” Grains added.
“Or that, 50 years on, development would still be continuing onshore and offshore, with years of production to come – and that we would still be investing in the port to make the most of more new opportunities.”
Having been founded in 1887, for most of its first century the LPA’s empire stretched no wider than a few acres from Victoria Pier to just beyond what is now the Bressay ferry terminal.
Developments over the past half century have altered the north of Lerwick harbour beyond recognition, and it now has almost 4,000 metres of quay, including over 1,300 metres of deep water berthing and 130,000 square metres of laydown.
The LPA more than quadrupled its staffing level and those employees soon found themselves negotiating contracts numbering into millions rather than thousands of pounds.
The harbour authority is aiming to invest over £30 million in new developments over the next few years, including a further 1,800 metres of quay.
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