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Asylum seeker barge seen leaving port

Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images Closer image of the Bibby Stockholm as it leaves Portland. There is a tugboat at the front of it and a second tugboat to the back of it. The Bibby Stockholm is a red and white rectangular barge, moving through the water and there is a dock platform seen to the left of the image.Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
The vessel was home to just under 500 male asylum seekers

The asylum seeker barge Bibby Stockholm has been pictured leaving port, 18 months after it arrived.

Images show the vessel being towed away from Portland Port, after the last asylum seekers left the barge in November.

Bibby Stockholm first arrived in Dorset in July 2023, to be used as accommodation for asylum seekers awaiting decisions on their applications.

The departure means the contract between the Home Office and Portland Port has expired and the barge will be returned to its owners, Bibby Marine.

Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images The Bibby Stockholm is seen from a distance, being pulled through the sea by a tugboat. In the background are country hills and a pink sunset.Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
The Bibby Stockholm has been pictured leaving Portland, 18 months after it first arrived

It was announced in July 2024 that the vessel would stop housing asylum seekers from January 2025, as part of government changes to the asylum system.

In October, 300 residents were moved from the barge to places including Cardiff, Wolverhampton, Bristol and Worksop.

When the remaining residents left in November, the vessel underwent a decommissioning process.

The barge housed just under 500 men and during its time on the Dorset coast the Bibby Stockholm loomed large over Portland - prompting multiple protests and campaigns.

Bibby Marine previously said the contract with the management company CTM ended on 3 January.

It is not clear where it will go next and what it will be used for.

Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images The Bibby Stockholm moves through the water away from Portland. The barge is red and white and there is a white tugboat behind it and a yellow and black smaller boat the the left. Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
It is not yet clear where the barge will go next and what it will be used for

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