West Spain News

As the first 6,000 tonne concrete “foundation” for Aberdeen Harbor’s $466m expansion has arrived from Cromarty Firth, the harbor expansion project has reached a new landmark stage.The 50m long, 15m wide and 16m deep caisson is the first of 22 that will form the foundations for Castlegate and Dunnottar Quays, which will be 540m and 400m long respectively. In order to transport the caisson safely, it will travel the 180-nautical mile journey at two nautical miles per hour, escorted by ‘The Strathdee’ towage vessel.Once the caisson has safely arrived in South Harbor, GPS equipment will be used to position it into its designated location with an accuracy of +/- 20mm. It will then be filled with water to sink it to the sea bed.

The European Commission propose to grant €2-million from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) to help 450 redundant workers in the shipbuilding ancillary industry in Galicia get back into employment. The funds, requested by the Spanish authorities, would help former workers from 35 small and medium sized enterprises. The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers for approval. EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor commented: "The crisis has transformed the shipbuilding sector and much of the industry is moving to low-cost areas, particularly in Asia.