News / Town centre eyesore is heading north
AN ACCOMMODATION barge known by many as an eyesore in the centre of Lerwick is set to leave the town within the next month.
The Sans Vitesse, famed locally for its striking, jagged zebra stripes, first arrived in the isles in 2013 to house up to 100 people working on the construction of the now operational Shetland Gas Plant in Sullom Voe.
Facilities management company Shetland FM are hoping to move the 77 metre barge from Victoria Pier to Sella Ness in early April.
The vessel will be moored alongside the existing tug jetty for a period of around two years.
Papers lodged with Shetland Islands Council’s planning department in early March say discussions with the Sullom Voe port authority on the matter are “positive and ongoing”.
A spokesman for Shetland FM said the barge would add to the company’s existing Sella Ness site, which has 425 rooms.
“Between then and now the company will work out which workers from which companies will be housed on board,” he added.
The Sans Vitesse will be the final accommodation vessel to leave the centre of Lerwick, with the 140 metre Ocean Atlantic setting sail last year.
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