‘Stockholm’ barge to hold 500 asylum seekers

Built almost 50 years ago, the 93m long Bibby Stockholm will be towed from its current location in Genoa, Italy, to the port of Portland in Dorset on the south coast of England.

UK home secretary Suella Braverman has intimated that it will be the first of several similar accommodation solutions to a growing asylum seeker issue in the UK.

The cost of hiring and berthing the barge has not been confirmed by the UK government, although The Times newspaper speculated that it could be up to £20,000 (€22,800) a day.

This will not be the first time the vessel has housed asylum seekers or homeless people.

Built in 1976 by Nederlandse Scheepsbouw, it was converted into an accommodation barge in 1992 and became known as Floatel Stockholm and Dino 1. 

The barge has moved to and from several docks, accommodating homeless people in Hamburg, construction workers in Sweden and asylum seekers in the Netherlands, according to reports.

In 2017 the ship was towed out of Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands, by Mustang, having accommodated workers on the Shetland Gas Plant.

Bibby Marine owns six accommodation barges, including Bibby Renaissance, Bibby Bergen, Bibby Challenge, Bibby Progress, Bibby Pioneer as well as Stockholm. It also owns walk-to-work vessels operating in the offshore wind and oil and gas industries.

A spokesperson from the company said: ”We can confirm the Bibby Stockholm has been chartered to provide a housing solution for those in need of accommodation in the UK. The vessel is in Genoa, Italy and has recently coe off a charter housing military personnel.”