Statement on behalf of the Highlands and Islands Resilience Partnership – Portree barge incident

A spokesperson for the agencies involved in the recovery of a sunken barge at Portree said: “Regular multi-agency meetings involving, the Coastguard, Marine Scotland, SEPA, The Highland Council, NHS Highland, Police Scotland and Bakkafrost (Scottish Salmon), are taking place to progress the recovery of the sunken salmon feed barge and its cargo off Portree Harbour.

Due to the decomposition of the fish feed within the sunken barge, small amounts of hydrogen sulphide gas have been released from the barge. The situation is being monitored and there is not considered to be any risk to the public as a result of the low levels of hydrogen sulphide detected. Monitoring equipment remains in place and further updates will follow as the incident is brought to a safe conclusion.”

2 Sep 2022