Cruise ships set to arrive at £350m expanded harbour next year

The first ships are on course to arrive at a £350m expanded harbour within the next year following months of delays.

Aberdeen Harbour is being made larger and deeper in a bid to attract cruise ships and support renewable energy projects.

The largest ongoing marine project in the UK was due to be completed by August 2020, but was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and its main contractor quitting.

Bosses now believe the first larger ships will be able to dock at the expanded harbour, just south of Nigg Bay, by October 2022.

Aberdeen Harbour chief executive Bob Sanguinetti told STV News: “The project is going very well. We expect to see the first ships coming in and out of the harbour by October next year.

“The majority, if not all, the works that are marine-related and weather-dependent are pretty much complete and we’re now focusing on the land side of the project.”

Constructed around the corner from Aberdeen’s existing harbour, the site is the equivalent to the size of 11 football pitches.

Around 200 workers are currently on the site, which includes a towering wave wall, fortified by thousands of 36-tonne man-made blocks to absorb energy.

Project manager Keith Young said: “It’s been a pretty tough time for everybody, but the people on site and those behind the scenes have meant we’ve got to this point.

“We know we’ve got still hard work ahead of us, but we’re in a good place here and hopefully that will continue.”