Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - 09:37 by ce-press
Significant investment by Lerwick Port Authority into a major dredging project will see the cruise industry among the first to benefit from improved access and berthing at the Shetland port.
Following the securing by Boskalis Westminster Ltd of a two-phase contract to be completed by year-end, dredging will widen the North Ness channel to 130m and deepen it to 10m throughout.
In addition it will provide extra margin for navigation in the mid-harbour basin, which is required by some of the larger cruiseships accessing Mair's Pier.
Mair's Pier itself will be dredged to a consistent 10m chart datum, making more of the available 275m of quayside to be used by visiting cruiselines.
LPA cruise & marketing manager, Melanie Henderson, says: “Customers to benefit directly will include SAGA, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, AIDA, Viking, and newcomers to Lerwick, such as Virgin Cruises and Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection, which are ideally sized to make use of the improved berthing capability.”
