Harbour kept busy

A varied selection of boats arrived at Lerwick Harbour this week, starting with the Norwegian reefer Framnes last Thursday, which took a cargo of frozen fish from Shetland Catch to St Petersburg.

On Saturday the Belgian tug President Hubert came to the Greenhead base with a cargo from the decommissioning of the North West Hutton platform, carrying on the work that started last year.

The next day was busier. The tanker Border Heather anchored at North Ness to wait for the tide before leaving for Grangemouth, and the Portuguese tug Braveheart towed in the barge H302 from the North West Hutton, leaving again towing barge H122.

The small fisheries protection boat Minna also arrived that day and so did the lighthouse tender Pharos, which initially anchored at Dales Voe and is now working with buoys on the West Side.

On Monday the small salmon tender Gem berthed at Malakoff to be painted, and another small salmon boat, Sonja, passed through the harbour on Tuesday en route to Dury Voe.

There were a number of oil-related arrivals too, including the second visit of the Italian supply ship Asso Trenta on Saturday.

Two Norwegian fishing vessels also arrived in Lerwick this week. Last Thursday the Saevikson 1 landed blue whiting at Shetland Catch, and the Mogsterhav, which was taking blue whiting to Norway, came in for an inspection by fisheries officers.

The Petronordic and Petroatlantic were again south of port limits this week, providing work for the harbour boats Kebister and Knab. The shuttle tanker Loch Rannoch was also at the south entrance on Saturday for a crew change and to take on freight.