Happy New Year everyone! It feels like Déjà vu as I had written last year that after a relatively calm period at the start of December, the wind and rain returned for the end of the month, and the same has been true of this December. However, after Hogmanay, it’s been a calmer start to January, and on Monday 6th, the first sprats were landed for 2025. Once again, the Caralisa is the only vessel fishing for Sprats, and while there were regular landings throughout December, the size, and therefore quality, of the catch has been mixed.
In part due to the weather, and in part due to uncertainty over vessel movements, which then made it too late to organise, we didn’t have fireworks from the Ronja vessels this New Year, which disappointed some of those who live in Mallaig, as it has become a bit of an annual tradition.
Our big news this month is that we are delighted to have appointed a new Deputy Harbour Master, John MacPhie, who will start with us on 20th January. We had changed the criteria this time round, which resulted in a really strong pool of local candidates to choose from, and a difficult decision for the interview panel. Many of you will know John, who has worked as an Engineer in and around the Harbour for all his adult life, and who was previously part-owner of Feorlig Marine, providing small workboats to the Aquaculture Industry; and we are looking forward to him joining the team. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to apply, and to Lorna Spencer and Captain Ron Bailey who came and supported us with the interview process.
CMAL hosted a public engagement event in Mallaig and Morar Community Centre on 10th December, to discuss the proposals for the new replacement vessel for the Lord of the Isles. The proposed new vessel will be a diesel-electric hybrid with a battery energy storage system so that it can be charged from the energy grid. It will have a single ended monohull, which will have an optimised design to reduce power demand. The vessel’s service speed will be 15.5knots, and the propulsion concept proposed will be designed to give improved manoeuvrability, station keeping and resilience. The vessel will be a similar size to the Lord of the Isles, and is designed to carry 300 passengers, 52 cars and 7 HGVs. It will have improved accessibility including two passenger lifts, increased walkway space, an accessible toilet and wheelchair spaces with adjustable height tables. At the moment, although the Scottish Government is supportive of the project, no funding has been allocated, so the timescale for the project has yet to be confirmed. An image of what the vessel will look like is included below.
Just prior to Christmas, the Loch Nevis had an issue with one of her engines, requiring her to leave for dry dock. Thankfully the Loch Bhrusda was in Mallaig and was able to pick up the Mallaig/Armadale route, before being awarded a dispensation from the MCA to operate (a mainly freight service) on the Small Isles routes, supported by the MV Larven, MV Orca III and MV Julie Ann. However, since New Year, the Loch Bhrusda has now left for her annual overhaul, and the Loch Nevis has yet to return – the result of this is that there is no vehicle service between Mallaig and Armadale until at least Friday 10th January, and freight services to the Small Isles are also disrupted, with the Spanish John being called into service when available.
We have now had an asbestos survey undertaken on the old (Denholms) Ice Plant, which is the next stage in our project to demolish it. The report showed no asbestos present, which should make the demolition process more straightforward. Although we have had to pause the overnight ferry berth works, we do hope to get some of these ‘smaller’ projects undertaken before the end of the financial year, so that we can concentrate on the overnight berth next Autumn.
We had a formal consultation meeting with Harbour Users on 5th December. These meetings are required to keep us compliant with the Port Marine Safety Code. While we would always encourage Harbour Users to raise any safety concerns with us as soon as possible, we do intend to meet more formally twice a year. We hope that we invited a good representation of Harbour Users along, but if anyone would like to be invited to future meetings, and wasn’t invited to this one, then please get in touch and we can add you to the list.
Finally, as I mentioned last month, we have decided to formalise the process for allocating funds to community groups and projects. We have set aside a budget of £5,000 to be allocated to community projects in the coming financial year, and local community groups will be asked to complete a simple application form, to be submitted to the Harbour Authority four weeks before the meeting at which the request will be considered.
Deadline: Meeting Date:
14th March 2025 11th April 2025
16th May 2025 13th June 2025
15th August 2025 12th September 2025
7th November 2025 5th December 2025
Funds will be available to groups based in the Mallaig Area, who operate on a not for profit basis, and are either constituted or incorporated, and who have a dedicated bank account for the organisation. The project being supported should have demonstrable community benefit for the Mallaig area. We can consider support to organisations who are open to a wider community area than purely Mallaig, as long as these organisations can demonstrate benefit to the community in Mallaig. All the information needed will be uploaded to our website shortly, or you can email me at jacqueline@mallaigharbourauthority.com for more details.
Jacqueline McDonell
