We’re delighted to be able to report that the new solar powered light has arrived and been installed at the lighthouse, so it is back operational again. Thanks to our own Harbour staff and to Colin and Callum King for their support with this. The new system was designed by Hydrosphere, and comes with the ability for us to keep a check on how well it is performing in various weather states. We were hopeful that this would not be an issue throughout the summer months, but there hasn’t been much sun lately! There are two separate batteries in the system, each providing back up for 30 days – so we have backup to keep the system running for 60 days.
Fishing landings have tailed off a bit in June, with fewer of the larger visiting boats, although some of our more regular visitors have once again been landing locally. The Aquaculture side has been busy though, with a lot of well boat traffic through June which has kept the Outer Harbour busy.
The Marina has also been busy, and we have welcomed back some of the charter yachts, with Eda Frandsen, Bessie Ellen, Lady of Avanel, Selkie and Silurian all using the Harbour and Marina at various points throughout the month. We also had a visit from the superyacht Moonstone’s tenders, while she was moored up Loch Nevis on Friday 20th June. ‘Moonstone’ is 79.2m in length, which is around 1.5 times the length of the Ronja Commander! She is owned by American billionaire brothers Rob and Richard Sands, and her tenders were around the same size as many of the visiting yachts at the Marina. We were not quite at the end of June as I was writing this, but looking at May’s figures for the Marina, it is shaping up to be a good year, with 59 overnight stays in April and 246 in May, compared to 24 in April and 170 in May last year. Hopefully this will continue and we’ll have earned a good contribution towards the cost of the new pontoon fingers by the end of the season!
John and I took a trip to Stornoway for the Scottish Ports Group meeting on the 11th and 12th June. While we were there, Stornoway Port Authority had a visit from their biggest cruise vessel of the year, the ‘Brittania’, which is 330m long. We were lucky enough to get right down onto the new deep water terminal, to see her up close. The new facility in Stornoway is very impressive – although it cost around £40million they have been able to achieve a huge amount with the money, including a 360m long berth and 6.5 hectares of laydown space. John and I were quite envious! We did a wee tour of Ports on our way there and back, ticking off Armadale, Uig, Tarbert, Stornoway and Ullapool, and taking note of what worked at each of them! We have more limited space in Mallaig but did come away with a few ideas for things we would like to see around the Harbour.
It was straight back from Stornoway for our AGM on Friday 13th June. This year marked the retirement of Lorna Spencer as a Board Member. Lorna and Jim Wilson had both served their second terms, but Jim has agreed to stay on and support us with our aspirations to reduce the carbon footprint of the Harbour. We are very grateful to Lorna for all the support she has given us, not only in the last six years as a Board Member, but also previous to that in her former role with CMAL. Although Lorna has retired as a Board Member, she will still be working with us at Mallaig Harbour Authority, providing support with our obligations under the Port and Marine Facilities Safety Code. Lorna’s retiral left a vacancy, and we have appointed Karen Johnston, who brings a wealth of experience in the Aquaculture industry with her; and who we are looking forward to having as a member of the Board going forward.
As with other years, I had prepared a short presentation for the AGM, looking at what we had achieved over the year, and our future plans. In some ways this has been a very frustrating year, with the postponement of the works to the overnight ferry berth, and the closure of the Boatyard after Harland and Wolff fell into administration. However, we have managed to achieve some smaller (but often just as important) projects over the year, and it’s good to reflect on these as well. These included the demolition of the old ice factory; the installation of 5 new pontoon fingers; the purchase of Unit 15 (Andy Race’s Building); and the creation of new shower facilities for fishermen in the Prawn Market. We have a small but hard-working team, who often go above and beyond to make sure that not just the Harbour, but the wider community, functions well. This was recognised by the Chair, who thanked the team for all their work over the year.
Our focus for this coming year will once again be the overnight ferry berth, along with redeveloping Unit 15 and trying to find a resolution for the boatyard to bring it back into some sort of economic use. Last year, we had put together an infographic with some key facts from the Economic Impact Assessment. Everyone agreed that this was a useful format, so I have created something similar for this year, which is published below.
Jacqueline McDonell
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