Floating terminal proposal for Scapa Flow

In 2008-9, Orkney Islands Council undertook extensive studies on the feasibility of such an operation with a potential base at Lyness, but plans were shelved due to the global economic downturn and concerns that the potential site at Lyness was unsuitable for such an operation.

‘’The differences now are significant, says Capt. David Thomson, MD of Orcades Marine “Four

years on, and with other countries now developing similar terminals. Clearly the model is believed to be viable. There are major cost differentials between a floating operation as opposed to a previous land based model, with the floating system having considerably cheaper capital and operating costs in addition to a much quicker installation time frame.

“Furthermore, a floating facility will not be just restricted to the transhipment and storage of containers but can also accommodate bunkering, MARPOL and ballast water options for calling vessels’’

“The results of European Union research carried out by Edinburgh Napier University in cooperation with container crane manufacturer Gottwald Port Technology between 2008-11, titled the StratMoS Project, provided many indicators for the viability of such projects and, with Orkney just one degree inside the Emission Control Area from 2015 and the opening up of Trans-Arctic shipping routes, the timing seemed absolutely right to reinvestigate the potential in this project being based in Scapa Flow.”

A new EU Interreg funded project, (TEN-TaNS), has selected the Scapa Flow FCSTT initiative as one of several case studies for the future development of transport in the North Sea Region. TEN-TaNS (Trans European Transport Networks and the North Sea) will investigate how an FCSTT located at Scapa Flow complies with the new TEN-T Guidelines for the evolving TEN-T core and comprehensive network.

TEN-T transport projects qualify for additional EU funding to support investment, and can also access finance from the European Investment Bank (EIB). Orcades Marine Management anticipates its feasibility and operability evaluations for an FCSTT will feed into and support the ongoing EU TEN-TaNS initiative. The due diligence process is expected to take from six to nine months.