Not since the winter of 2009 has Scapa Flow witnessed levels of tanker activity as seen in the Flow this week. In addition to the two Prosafe offshore accommodation platforms currently anchored, on Monday the 29 February there were six tankers either conducting or waiting to conduct ship to ship or Flotta operations in the Flow.
In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of tanker activity involving the ship to ship transfer of various fuels including Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and crude oil. In addition there has been weekly tanker operation at the Flotta jetty for uplifting cargo which has been piped to Flotta from the Nexen Golden Eagle and other oil fields in the North sea.
This activity has led to a significant increase in tug and pilotage operations in addition to further support opportunities from the local maritime supply chain.