Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Decom fight is on

Artist's impressions of how the £350m Nigg Bay extension of Aberdeen Harbour could look when it is completed in 2020.
Artist's impressions of how the £350m Nigg Bay extension of Aberdeen Harbour could look when it is completed in 2020.

As First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made her pitch to retain Scotland’s trading links with the eurozone, a major investment was being unveiled in the north east that could have repercussions at home and abroad.

After six long years in planning, Aberdeen Harbour Board has finally signed off on a £350 million scheme to expand into Nigg Bay.

The facilities were conceived when the oil price was high and Aberdeen stood tall in the oil and gas world.

Cracks have opened in that polished veneer since, but Aberdeen is still a global industry hub and Nigg Bay is designed to ensure it remains so.

Interestingly, the harbour doesn’t mention either oil or gas in its release about the development.

Instead, it talks about enhanced “marine support capabilities” for a range of industries.

What is explicitly mentioned, however, is the desire to bring more cruise ships to the Granite City and to increase decommissioning activities.

I’m sure the latter – if not the former, too – will have set alarm bells ringing in Dundee, Montrose and other ports.

A total of £10m is being invested by operator Forth Ports at Dundee to create decom and renewables capacity at the city’s harbour.

It is desperate to at least partially right the wrong of Dundee missing out on the oil and gas boom of the 1970s.

By getting spades in the ground, it has stolen a march on rival ports.

But Dundee and Montrose – which has also upped its game in recent years – are still not on the radar of the major operators in the way that Aberdeen is.

Improved infrastructure is not enough here. For Dundee and others, there’s also a selling job to be done.

The prospect of new, modern facilities will make Aberdeen the easy choice for the industry when it comes to decom and new field investments.

Dundee, Montrose and others will have to fight tooth and nail to win work.

That battle has begun and, as a region, we cannot afford for the foot to come off the accelerator pedal until the fight is won.

ghuband@thecourier.co.uk