Kishorn Port secures decommissioning funds

KISHORN Port has secured supplementary funding from the Scottish Government to allow operators Kishorn Port Ltd (KPL) to extend the scope of its project.

With the help of the money from the Government’s Decommissioning Challenge Fund and the continuing support of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, KPL has embarked on a further £1 million upgrade to the port’s infrastructure.

Work includes the installation of a pumping system to quickly empty the dry dock, which is one of the largest in western Europe.

Cathodic protection to the sheet-piled structures at the dock is also being undertaken, along with the installation of fendering to protect the huge flooding tubes from accidental impact. During 2017, an access ramp was blasted into the side of the dry dock and these funds will enable it to be permanently surfaced in concrete. The concrete caisson gates, which were cast in the mid 1970s to enable the construction of super-sized oil production platforms, will undergo minor repair works and a new set of modified gate seals will be manufactured.

Simon Russell, a director of KPL, said: ‘These additional funds pave the way for Kishorn to enter into the growing decommissioning sector in Scotland. We are already receiving enquiries from parties interested in taking large floating structures into the dock. KPL has also started discussions with the relevant authorities to secure the required licences and permits to enable decommissioning to take place on the site.’

Aerial photo of the 160m diameter Kishorn dry dock taken in late 2017, following its first pump out since 1993, when it was used to cast the Skye Bridge supporting caissons.