What is Bibby Stockholm? First asylum seekers board the housing barge
Despite the security concern raised, ministers insist that the boat is protected for use as housing and might be a less expensive various to utilizing accommodations.
But, what precisely is Bibby Stockholm, the place is it docked, and what are the security issues raised about it?
Here is all the things we all know.
What is Bibby Stockholm?
Bibby Stockholm is an engineless barge that’s used as an lodging vessel. Its identify comes from the delivery and marine operations firm that owns it, which is Bibby Line.
The ship was constructed again in 1976 earlier than being reworked into an lodging hub in 1992.
Between 1994 and 1998, it was used for the homeless in Hamburg, Germany. And in 2005, the Netherlands used it to detain asylum seekers in Rotterdam.
Later, in 2013, the barge was used as a home for building staff on the Shetland Gas Plant.
In August 2017, a property administration firm briefly thought of utilizing the barge as scholar lodging for college pupils in Galway, Ireland nevertheless it by no means materialised.
In June 2018, Sweden used it throughout the building of the Markbygden Wind Farm, the place it stayed till 2019.
In 2023, the UK authorities revealed its plans to make use of the barge as housing for asylum seekers.
Where is Bibby Stockholm?
Bibby Stockholm is at present docked within the port of Portland, in Dorset.
The 222-room barge consists of three storeys and can home as much as 500 males aged between 18-65 from varied nations.
Senior ministers reportedly need to affirm the usage of additional barges within the coming months, however have been struggling to search out hosts for them. The BBC stories {that a} web site subsequent to London City Airport and one other on the River Mersey in Wirral have been amongst these rejected.
What are the fireplace security issues round Bibby Stockholm?
The Fire Brigades Union has raised issues over the barge’s slender exits and the doable overcrowding it might trigger.
In an open letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman, they mentioned: “Firefighting operations on vessels such as the Bibby Stockholm provide significant challenges and require specialist training and safe systems of work. The diminished safety provisions only exacerbate our operational concerns.”
They added: “We are concerned about the risks on a large floating structure used to accommodate asylum seekers in long-term housing and would expect the risk assessment to recommend substantial prevention and control measures to tackle overcrowding, access to fire exits and other safety matters on the vessel.”
However, Energy Secretary Grant Schapps informed ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “This actual ship was previously used by Germany to house migrants, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be absolutely safe. Ships are used to transport people all the time and there’s no inherent reason why that (not being safe) would be the case.”