Isle Of Skye News

Southampton Marine Services said it has launched its latest vessel, a new aquaculture service vessel for Leco Marine, at its Ocean Quay shipyard in Southampton. Designed by Argyll Maritime Design Services, the 23-meter vessel, Alyssa, is an aquaculture service vessel built for Scottish commercial diving and marine services company Leco Marine to perform general fish farm work. It is equipped with a net-cleaning and inspection system for the maintenance of fish-farm nets. Leco Marine’s largest vessel…

The first cruise ship arrival of the year will enter Lerwick Harbour this weekend at the start of a record-breaking season which is expected to see the most passengers and vessels yet at the Shetland port, along with the highest gross tonnage of cruise ships, including the biggest vessels to date. • Almost 54,000 passengers are expected, up on the 2014 record of 43,273. • 78 vessels are currently due, beating the high of 52 in 2012. • The cumulative tonnage at 2,212,023 gross tonnes tops the 1,684,699 gross tonnes set in 2014. • The record for the largest cruise ship will be broken twice – by P&O Cruises 115,055 gross tonne Azura on 30 June, followed by Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Silhouette (122,210 gross tonnes) on 14 August, with around 3,100 and 2,900 passenger capacity respectively.

The Royal Navy's latest submarine, HMS Artful, will be officially commissioned at a ceremony today. It will take place at Faslane naval base on the Clyde, with representatives of the Royal Navy and the companies that built the vessel present. Guest of honor at the ceremony will be the submarine's sponsor Lady Amanda Zambellas, who named the vessel during its launch in 2014. Artful, the third of the Royal Navy’s new Astute-class attack submarines, has been busy conducting her final Contractor Sea Trials ahead of her maiden deployment. The sophisticated submarine sailed from Barrow-in-Furness in August last year for her new home at HM Naval Base Clyde and since then has been proving her systems and equipment at sea.

Ferry masters operating off the west coast of Scotland traditionally would have to sail to a port and on arrival visually assess the weather and tide conditions before deciding whether it was safe to berth alongside the pier or quayside: a process which wasted time and fuel, and frustrating the paying passengers. The berthing of ferries is a high skill job, particularly during bad weather, and the decision on whether a specific ferry can safely berth at a specific port is subjective and ultimately can only be taken by the ferry Master…

Historically, ferry masters operating off the west coast of Scotland would have to sail to a port and on arrival visually assess the weather and tide conditions before deciding whether safe berthing alongside the pier or quayside would be possible. This wastes time and fuel, and can causes frustration among passengers, who may see ferries come close to a port, but thereafter depart without berthing when conditions are determined by the ferry Master to be unsafe. These ferries provide a lifeline service to the islands, so the reliability of ferry services is important.

Imtech Marine informs it has been awarded a third contract to supply the electric and hybrid propulsion system for a hybrid ferry operated by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) of Scotland. Ferguson Marine, the Glasgow-based yard which built the first two CMAL diesel electric, hybrid seagoing ferries, launched a tender last year and Imtech Marine was given the contract in late February. For the third hybrid ferry, Imtech Marine will, next to the diesel-electric and Li-Ion battery hybrid propulsion system, additionally carry out the electrical installation.

When Imtech Marine was asked to supply a hybrid propulsion system to the first ever diesel electric, hybrid seagoing ferries to the Scottish state-owned ferry operator, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd. (CMAL) in 2011, fuel savings of around 20% were expected, the company said. Following extensive trials Imtech Marine announced that the actual fuel savings with the innovative hybrid system - consisting of diesel electric in combination with battery technology - were up to 38%. CMAL operates 30 ferries on the west coast of Scotland to 18 islands.

The GL Group said it has recently strengthened its offshore team with two appointments: David Robertson who takes on the role of Head of Practice for the U.K. Marine and Offshore Project Management Services and Elaine Greig who is the new U.K. Head of Offshore at GL Garrad Hassan. David Robertson’s career in renewables began after 13 years in the onshore petrochemical industry. He worked on a number of onshore wind farm projects, including managing the delivery of the Electrical…

The Commission has awarded over €1.2 billion to 23 innovative renewable energy technology (RES) projects. The projects cover a wide range of renewable energy technologies from bioenergy (including advanced biofuels), concentrated solar power and geothermal power to wind power, ocean energy and distributed renewable management (smart grids). The projects will be hosted in 16 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The project comprises a floating offshore 26 MW wind farm located 50 km from Marseille. Thirteen wind turbines will be installed on 13 moored floating structures which will transfer power to an onshore substation connected to the grid.

The idea of a ferry going over the sea to Skye is not a new one, although with the Skye bridge opening a few years ago, it is not an adventure many people undertake these days. A small car ferry operates in the south of the island, and a large car ferry takes people over from Uig in the north west corner of Skye to the Outer Hebridian islands of Lewis and Barra. There had however, long been talk of a possible passenger service linking the North of Skye to the Scottish mainland at Gairloch. A feasibility study was carried out by the local council, after which some local businessmen pulled together to form a new company in 2003 called West Highland Seaways Ltd., trading as 6° West.

budget. The vessel was built by Sandy Morrison Engineering in Uig, Isle of Skye. Morrison reported “the Spitit of Skye had finished its trials with flying colous. The performance of the vessel was better than hoped for by a large margin. Predictions were in the region of 28 knots. recorded. of other types we have used”. undertake these days. northwest Highlands and Islands. unviable. consuming and hair-raising journey by road. Skye to the Scottish mainland at Gairloch. Seaways Ltd., trading as 6o West. Gairloch in the Isle of Skye. required an average speed of 18 knots.

Setting sail again, a newly built replica of the Jeanie Johnston, the Irish emigrant ship that rescued thousands from the Great Famine, will voyage from Ireland to North America and visit cities this summer and fall throughout the U.S. The eight-month tour, with stopovers in 23 U.S. and Canadian cities, is expected to arrive mid-June in Washington, D.C. and will be greeted by President Bill Clinton. The ship will then join more than 200 tall ships, 500 U.S. and foreign naval vessels and 50 to 70 thousand spectator crafts from all over the world in New York Harbor's OpSail 2000 Parade of Sail, the largest maritime event in world history.