The Bibby Stockholm has been pictured leaving Portland today - 18 months after the controversial vessel arrived.
Pictures taken this afternoon show the barge being towed away from Portland Port.
The barge first arrived in Dorset in July 2023 and was used as accommodation for asylum seekers awaiting decisions on their applications.
After Labour won the election last year, it was announced in July 2024 the vessel would stop housing asylum seekers from January 2025 as part of the new government's overhaul of the asylum system.
The last asylum seekers actually left Portland in November and since then the vessel has undergone a 'decommissioning process' before being handed back to its owners.
The barge contract has cost the taxpayer at least £34.8 million, according to the National Audit Office. If the contract had been renewed or extended, then it would have cost the taxpayer an additional £20 million this year alone, according to the Home Office.
The barge's relationship with Dorset has been controversial from the very start, arriving in the county under then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's bid to 'Stop the Boats'.
The vessel was one of several sites, including the military bases RAF Wethersfield in Essex and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, used by the previous Tory government in a bid to cut the cost of housing migrants in hotels.
The news was met with protests in the county, and Portland residents felt the isle already lacked the infrastructure - such as GP surgeries, schools and dentists - to cope with more people.
Dorset Council's leader Nick Ireland even said Dorset was 'never a suitable location'.
The vessel, which was converted into an accommodation barge in 1992, has previously been used around Europe to house the homeless and also asylum seekers. In 2013, it was used to house gas plant workers in Scotland.
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