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Lerwick Harbor News

06 Oct 2016

Cruise Season at Lerwick Ends on New Highs

Lerwick Harbor has logged its best cruise season yet, with the Shetland port setting four new records in 2016 – and three expected to be broken again next year. The season closes tomorrow, Thursday 6 October, with another visit by the Cruise & Maritime Voyages-operated Marco Polo, en route from Dublin to Torshavn, Faroe, on a 12-nights Iceland, Faroe and Northern Lights cruise. * Over 50,500 cruise passengers arrived since April, superseding the 2014 record of 43,273. * 79 cruise ships have entered the port, beating the previous high of 52 in 2012. * Their cumulative tonnage at 2,192,651 gross tonnes is well-ahead of the 1,684,699 gross tonnes recorded in 2014.

14 Aug 2016

Biggest Cruise Ship to Enter Lerwick Harbor

The record for the biggest cruise ship into Lerwick Harbour will be broken on Today (Sunday) when Celebrity Silhouette enters the Shetland port on a 14-nights British Isles Cruise. On her maiden call at Lerwick, Celebrity Cruises’ 122,210 gross tonne vessel will beat the record set by the 115,055 gross tonne Azura on 30 June. Captain Calum Grains, Lerwick Port Authority’s Harbour Master and Deputy Chief Executive, said: “The visit by Celebrity Silhouette will be another highlight of a record-breaking season and in the long involvement of Lerwick and Shetland with the cruise industry. “The sheltered and safe, deep-water anchorages and proven modern landing-stage facilities make the harbour an ideal port-of-call for large cruise ships.

01 May 2016

Lerwick Harbor sees Seasonal Boost

The opening of the offshore season in northern waters has seen specialist oil industry vessels return to Lerwick Harbor during April to support subsea development projects. This month has also brought the first cruise ship of the year to the Shetland port for what promises to be a record-breaking cruise season. Lerwick Port Authority Chief Executive, Sandra Laurenson, commented: “The positive signs are encouraging, after a fall in traffic during the first quarter. We expect the harbor to be busy servicing field developments west of Shetland through to September, albeit in a continuing depressed market. Our best-by-far cruise season yet – significantly up on last year – will run to October, with a high level of bookings already for 2017 and beyond.

09 Dec 2015

Transas VMS for Lerwick Harbor

Transas signed a contract with Lerwick Port Authority to install a new Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) to cover Lerwick Harbour, in Shetland. The new Transas system is required to replace Lerwick Harbour’s existing system. Lerwick is a major commercial port in Britain, strategically situated at the crossroads of the North Sea and North-East Atlantic. Handling more than 5,000 vessel arrivals, totalling over 12,000,000 gross tonnes, annually, the deep-water port’s users include fishing, oil and gas support, cargo, sailing, ferries and cruises. The new VMS will be based on the high-end Navi-Harbour software solution from Transas. Hardware equipment scope consists of Class A AIS Transponders…

31 Oct 2015

Negative Impact on Lerwick Harbor Traffic

The downturn in offshore industry operations, a cyclical cruise season and lower fish landings have combined to reduce activity at Lerwick Harbor in the first nine months of 2015. Sandra Laurenson, Lerwick Port Authority Chief Executive, said: “We knew that the peak activity levels we enjoyed in recent years would not continue and our forecasts for the year to date are on target to match our predictions for 2015. Vessel arrivals between January and September were virtually unchanged – up 24 at 3,874 compared to the same period in 2014, with the tonnage down 4% at 9.2 million gross tonnes, reflecting oil-related and cruise markets. Cargo handled was down 11% at 811,018 tonnes, including a 12% drop in offshore shipments.

30 Jan 2015

Lerwick Harbor sees Positive Outlook

Lerwick's importance as a gateway for Shetland’s communities and industries is underlined by an increase in passenger traffic, cargo handled and fish landed in 2014. Passengers were up 11.8% to 179,352, with numbers on the roll-on/roll-off nightly ferries between the port and Kirkwall and Aberdeen increased by 2% to 135,629 compared with the previous year, despite the two vessels being off-route in sequence for a total five weeks for biennial servicing. A recovery in cruise traffic saw passengers up by 64% to 43,723. The tonnage of all cargo shipments across the deep-water harbour’s near-4,000 metres of quays increased 2% to 1,192,286 tonnes. Fish landings totalled 69,973 tonnes, valued at £61.2 million – up 4.7% on volume and down 2.4% on value.

03 Nov 2014

Throughput Up at Lerwick Harbor

A continuing increase in cargo handled at Lerwick Harbour in the third quarter brought the volume for the first nine months of 2014 to 910,014 tonnes, up 6% on the same period last year. Shipments included 144,243 tonnes of oil-related cargo, a rise of 4.5%. There was a 14.7% increase in passengers to 154,381, with ferry passengers on the Aberdeen and Kirkwall routes up 4% to 111,357 and cruise passengers by 61% to a record 43,024. The 3,850 arrivals were down 8%, with the tonnage of vessels lower by 8% at 9.6 million gross tonnes. As forecast, oil-related arrivals decreased, by 5.8% to 503, with the tonnage at 2.3 million gross tonnes, down 27%, in comparison to the same period last year when there was a spike in activity due to one-off projects.

28 Sep 2014

2 Cruise Season Records at Lerwick Harbor

The arrival of the cruise ship Norwegian Star at Lerwick Harbour today (Thursday 25 September) marks the end of the Shetland port's best season yet, with two records achieved. Passenger numbers reached a new high at 43,056, topping the previous record of 37,572 in 2012, with the vessel tonnage figure of 1,682,985 gross tonnes exceeding the record of 1,531,097 gross tonnes two years ago. Making her second visit to Lerwick after a maiden call last year, the 294-metre, 91,740 gross tonne Norwegian Star arrived from Bergen, Norway, this morning with 2,282 passengers on board, leaving later in the day for Reykjavik, Iceland. She was the 49th cruise ship of the year at Lerwick where the early start to the season in March was delayed by bad weather in the North Sea.

07 Aug 2014

Lerwick Harbor Handles Solan Field Storage Tank

Lerwick Harbour has again demonstrated its deep-water capacity and capabilities,  this time by simultaneously accommodating two giant support vessels and the successful offloading of a 10,000 tonne subsea oil storage tank, destined for west of the Shetland Islands. The sheltered port’s facilities and proximity to the Solan Field, being developed by Premier Oil 90 kilometres into the Atlantic, meant is was perfectly placed for final preparation of the tank ahead of installation. The tank was delivered to the port on 26 July from the construction yard in Dubai by Cosco (Chinese Ocean Shipping) Heavy Lift’s transport vessel, Xiang Yun Kou.

01 Aug 2014

Activity at Lerwick Harbor - Forecast

Increases in cargo, passengers and mackerel landings helped the Port of Lerwick achieve forecast traffic levels in the half-year to June, 2014, compared with the same period in 2013. The total for all cargoes handled at the port rose 8%, with combined ferry and cruise passengers jumping 13.8%. The number of vessel arrivals, at 2,230, was down 11%, mainly due to a decrease in fishing vessels – also reflected in white fish landings which declined due to bad weather in the early part of the year, vessel refits and boats on charter to the oil industry. The tonnage of vessels at 5.5 million gross tonnes was down 10%, principally due to an expected decrease in offshore industry bulk carriers/pipe-burying vessels compared with project work last year.

02 Jul 2014

Queen's Baton Relay Visit To Lerwick Harbor

Day 18 of the relay round Scotland will see the Queen’s Baton begin its Shetland route at Sumburgh taking in visits to Sandwick, Lerwick, Scalloway and Brae. The Baton route at Lerwick in the afternoon will begin from Holmsgarth Road at 4.28pm today and meander its way around Lerwick taking in Shetland Museum & Archives and Mareel. The Baton will take a short voyage on local replica Viking long-ship Dim Riv to arrive at Victoria Pier around 5.30pm before heading along the Esplanade, around the South end of Lerwick and the Knab and back through the streets, to culminate in an Evening Celebration event at the Clickimin Athletics Track.

23 Jun 2014

Additional Yacht Pontoon for Lerwick Harbor

A 50-meter pontoon has been made available by Grieg Seafood Hjaltland from their Girlsta operation for this season. Lerwick Port Authority’s vessel Kebister collected the pontoon from Girlsta and Ocean Kinetics were engaged to moor it at Albert Wharf. The authority’s staff are making the pontoon ready with services and it will be available for use by yachts from today. The pontoon is placed to extend out from Albert Wharf, providing berthing on both sides of it and sheltering Albert Dock where the other seasonal yacht pontoons are located. The 28th annual Bergen-Shetland yacht race will bring more than 40 yachts to Lerwick from June 26-29.

10 Jun 2014

A Summer Of Sailing At Lerwick Harbor

Lerwick Harbor is set to cast off for a summer of sailing with a series of local and international events attracting several hundred crew, beginning this week with the arrival of entrants in the Round Britain & Ireland Yacht Race. Sandra Laurenson, Lerwick Port Authority Chief Executive, said: ”The harbour will again be playing host to a number of sailing enthusiasts, many of them repeat visitors, meeting and competing in the established races and underlining the popularity of the port and Shetland with yachting crews. • The Round Britain & Ireland Yacht Race, operated by the Royal Western Yacht Club and held every four years, with the 13 remaining entries en route clockwise around Britain and Ireland from a start in Plymouth on 1 June.

02 Jun 2014

Major Development For Fishing Industry At Lerwick Harbor

The fishing industry will be the main beneficiary of the next major project in the continuing development of Lerwick Harbor where the construction of a large new jetty at Holmsgarth North is due to begin in the third quarter this year. It will provide deeper berthing and more working area for the fishing fleet, while the outer arm of the L-shaped jetty will create a dock sheltering a planned new white fish market. The outer arm will also be suitable for offshore industry vessels. Extending to over 630 metres, with ultimately 10 metres of water alongside, the Holmsgarth North project is scheduled for completion, at an estimated cost of £17 million, at end 2015. It will be followed by the construction of the market, timetabled to start in early 2016 at Mair’s Quay.

24 May 2014

New Quay Structures At Lerwick Harbor

Lerwick Port Authority plans to construct new quay structures at Holmsgarth and Dales Voe South Development both at Lerwick, Shetland.   Prior to applying for Marine Licences for the above projects, a pre-application consultation is being held to invite comments before applications are submitted to Marine Scotland, details of which can be viewed on their website http://www.lerwick-harbour.co.uk/.     Lerwick Port Authority

06 May 2014

Major Development For Fishing Industry at Lerwick Harbor

The fishing industry will be the main beneficiary of the next major project in the continuing development of Lerwick Harbor where the construction of a large new jetty at Holmsgarth North is due to begin in the third quarter this year. It will provide deeper berthing and more working area for the fishing fleet, while the outer arm of the L-shaped jetty will create a dock sheltering a planned new white fish market. The outer arm will also be suitable for offshore industry vessels. Extending to over 630 metres, with ultimately 10 metres of water alongside, the Holmsgarth North project is scheduled for completion, at an estimated cost of £17 million, at end 2015. It will be followed by the construction of the market, timetabled to start in early 2016 at Mair’s Quay.

01 May 2014

Mixed Fortunes At Lerwick Harbor In Q1

Lerwick Harbour recorded strong performances across various key sectors in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2013. However, seasonal factors impacted negatively on passenger traffic in particular. • Cargo across the near-4,000 metres of quays increased 19% to 282,060 tonnes. • It included 43,388 tonnes of oil-related shipments, up 60% due to movement of heavy items, such as offshore anchor chains, and increased supplies. • Fish landings totalled 32,577 tonnes, valued at £33 million – up 40% on volume and 57% on value. Bad weather in the North Sea hit the scheduled month-early start to the cruise season, with only one of three vessels due in March reaching Lerwick, bringing 609 passengers.