The shipping platform

Location: Sullom Voe is located in the Shetland Islands which lie approx 120nm NNE of the N tip of mainland Britain. General overview: Sullom Voe is a deep water harbour, owned and operated by the Shetland Islands Council as Harbour Authority. The Sullom Voe Oil and Gas complex is located within the port limits on Calback Ness in position 60°27.5'N 001°17'W and is operated by BP Exploration. The port administration building, from which all marine operations are monitored and controlled, is located on Sella Ness in position 60°26.8'N 001°16.5'W. Services offered by the Harbour Authority and financed through conservancy charges, include port radar, navigational advice to shipmasters, intensity controlled navigational lighting to assist entry in poor visibility, meteorological advice and shore access gangways at all oil and gas jetties. Services offered and financed through separate charging structures include pilotage and mooring boat services. Boat hire can be arranged for vessels anchored or standing off. Helicopter hire is also available. The towage service is operated by a separate towage company and financed directly through towage charges. The harbour is presently designed to accept routinely all tankers up to around LOA 365m with a draught of up to 24.0m and LPG carriers up to about LOA 286m with a draught up to 16.8m. In addition to liquid bulk and LPG cargoes, the port is designed to handle general, dry bulk, Ro-Ro, containerised cargo and quarried rock. Ship-to-ship transfers of oil are now carried out at Jetty No 4 which can take ULCC's of 2m barrels and above. In addition to liquid bulk and LPG cargo the port can handle quarried rock and general, dry bulk, Ro-Ro and containerised cargo in relatively small vessels working at shallow draught jetties. Traffic figures: Approx 11,250,000t of cargo and 250 vessels handled annually. Load line zone: North Atlantic Winter Seasonal Zone II, Winter Nov 1 to Mar 31, Summer Apr 1 to Oct 31. Max size: LOA 365m, draught 24.0m and 350,000DWT, which may be exceeded at the discretion of the Harbour Master.