£150,000 more may be needed to promote hub

The promoters of the idea to establish a container hub in Scapa Flow believe that the next step will probably be to appoint a project leader.

One of the three partners in the venture, Orkney Islands Council, have agreed to invest £150,000 to develop the idea further in the next financial year.

Chairman of the council’s economic development committee, Councillor Jim Foubister, indicated that it might be necessary to spend another £150,000 on the project in the following year as well.

Members of the finance and general purposes committee told Councillor Foubister that that decision had yet to be made.

The director of development and protective services, Mr Jeremy Baster, said that the £150,000 was going to be needed to look at the preferred location for the container hub project, the Golta peninsula in Flotta, and produce detailed costings for developing the area. He remarked that the figures quoted so far for this work had been ‘quite imprecise.’ Mr Baster felt that the project leader would have to have industry background to be able to sell the idea to the specialist companies concerned.

Councillor Foubister said that although he accepted that the OIC had only agreed to spend £150,000 on the container hub project in the next financial year, he would give notice that a similar amount might be needed in the next year 2003/04.

The other partners in the Scapa Flow container hub project are Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the port of Halifax in Nova Scotia.

The minimum operation, offering a twice weekly service between Orkney and Halifax, is estimated to cost around 196 million US dollars to establish, but would create 273 jobs directly and an extra 140 jobs indirectly in Orkney and generate a likely income of 10.2 million US dollars a year.

The medium scenario, providing twice weekly services between Orkney and Freeport in the Bahamas, in addition to the Orkney-Canada service has been estimated to cost 392 million US dollars, and could generate direct employment for 547 people and almost a further 300 associated jobs and an annual income of 20.5 million US dollars for the trans-shipment hub terminal.

The maximum size of terminal envisaged would have the Orkney-Canada and the Orkney-Bahamas services, but also provide links between Orkney and Singapore with feeder services to existing ports. It would cost 686 million US dollars to establish, and create work for 956 people and a further 500 ancillary jobs and bring an income of 35.8 million US dollars a year.