Press Release

8 JUNE 2006

 

Stornoway Harbour bustled with activity this last week, with some unique visitors, which highlight Stornoway's emergence as a hub for some quite diverse operations.

 

Last Saturday, the German Fishery Protection Vessel 'Seeadler' made a first visit to the port, to land a sick seaman. She operates a dual role as Coastguard Vessel and Fishery Protection for the German Government in the North Sea , and East Atlantic .

 

On Sunday and Monday, the 'Pharos' and the 'Pole Star' respectively, made one night stopovers at the port. These ships are operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board, carrying out maintenance on lighthouses and light buoys round the Scottish Coast .

 

On a misty Monday morning, the Bahamas flag cruise liner 'Astor' heralded her arrival with her foghorn blasting. She anchored in Stornoway Harbour and ferried over 400 passengers back and fore, as they undertook island tours. The 'Astor' sailed for Invergordon on Monday night. This was followed on Tuesday lunchtime by the arrival of the luxury cruise ship 'Hebridean Princess'. The 'Princess' offers short cruises in 5-star surroundings, round the Scottish coast and to the more remote areas such as St. Kilda and the Shiants. She can carry up to 49 passengers, attracted by the sales pitch of being like a Scottish Country house afloat.

 

The 'Princess' was followed in on Tuesday by the Norwegian flagged 'Normand Master', a multi-functional oil support vessel. The Master is one of the most modern of its class, capable of supporting drilling rigs in water depths of up to 2,000 metres. She came into Stornoway for a partial crew change and short lay-by, prior to taking up anchor handling operations with a drilling rig on the Atlantic Frontier of the UK Continental Shelf.

 

On Wednesday morning the French Trawler 'Mariette Le Roch 2' put into Stornoway for a crew change. She is one of the Scapeche fleet fishing the North Atlantic , and taking advantage of the proximity of Stornoway Airport to the Port. The French Company flies 2 charter flights a week from Lorient to Stornoway in order to facilitate a crew change.

 

All this combined with a steady stream of pleasure craft and the more regular ferry and fishing traffic, made for a very interesting few days, for Port Authority staff and shipping enthusiasts alike.

 

 

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