Lerwick Port dredging project enters next phase

A hard rocky seabed is always a challenge when it comes to dredging, even for Boskalis’ specialist equipment.

That is why the crews from Boskalis Westminster are deploying different types of vessels to deepen the port of Lerwick on the Scottish Shetland Islands, so it can accommodate larger passenger, fishing and offshore vessels in the future.

After the trailing suction hopper dredger Shoalway first dredged over 150,000 cubic meters of relatively soft material, it is now the turn of the Magnor.

This large backhoe dredger will dredge the hard material in cooperation with the pusher tug Union Onyx and Boskalis’ Terraferre barge.

When this campaign is successfully completed, a third phase of the project will start. Targeted holes will be drilled into sections of the exposed rocky seabed, allowing controlled use of explosives to fragment the rock into smaller pieces suitable for removal by one of the smaller backhoe dredgers.

In total, around 450,000 cubic meters of material will be removed from the seabed and taken to a disposal site north of the island of Bressay. To protect local marine life, comprehensive measures are being taken throughout the duration of the work.