Harbour busy with influx of yachts
MORE than 30 visiting yachts arrived at Lerwick Harbour this week, making it one of the busiest times of the summer so far.
The yachts were mainly from Norway, but there have been some from the UK, Germany and Holland, as well as one from Poland one from Finland. There were two from Sweden, one of which, the Jaya, was escorted into Lerwick by the lifeboat when her mast broke.
Decommissioning work accounted for much of the other harbour traffic. The tug Primus arrived from the NW Hutton platform last Thursday and returned there on Monday. The Belgian tug President Hubert, working on the same oilfield, came to Lerwick with engine problems on Sunday but had to go to Rotterdam to be repaired.
The Norwegian general cargo vessel Anette also arrived on Sunday. She loaded scrap at Dales Voe and sailed to Odense in Denmark.
There were 12 oil-related arrivals in the week, some of which were involved in decommissioning work on the Frigg field.
The stand-by vessel Grampian Contender arrived in Lerwick on Saturday for her monthly crew change and to take on stores and fuel. The 49-metre 1125grt ship, owned by North Star Shipping of Aberdeen, is based at the Muchison oil platform north east of Shetland. She sailed to the Cormorant Alpha platform later the same day.
The cruise ship Marco Polo with a group of tour operator Andrew Morrison’s holiday makers on board made a stop at the south entrance to the harbour on Monday to drop off 17 passengers from his group. The harbour tugs Knab and Kebister, which can each carry 12 people, were required for the task. The cruise ship then proceeded to Tilbury.
Various fishing vessels also arrived in the course of the week, including the Norwegian Erliner which is in for repairs.
The 253-metre, 75,166grt cruise ship Costa Victoria is due to make a short visit today, requiring the pontoon at Albert Wharf to be vacated. She will sail to Kiel, Germany, at 5pm.
FOUR tankers left Sullom Voe this week with cargoes of crude.
The Ocean Lady sailed to Hamburg on Thursday with 78,556 tonnes and the SKS Satilla went to Portland, Maine, with 47,236 tonnes, on Sunday. The Astro Sculptor left for Cartagena with 83,223 tonnes on Monday, followed by the Alfa Italia, which took 83,259 tonnes to Hamburg on Tuesday.
There were no Schiehallion imports or exports and no ship to ship transfers.
