35 Arrivals for the Period
Whitefish totalled 4600 boxes from 16 Anglo Spanish liners and 1 Scottish trawler. Quiet times continue with the Scottish fleet continuing to fish east and north. Hopefully now that summer has ‘arrived’ boats will start heading back to Rockall to look for squid and haddocks. Tragic news last week when the Greman-registered Oretgal Tres reported that one of the crew had died overnight. The 21 year old Indonesian fisherman was found to have passed away in his cabin from smoke inhalation. Sad news for all concerned and our thoughts are with his shipmates and family at this sad time.
The Shellfish sector has picked up with a few visiting prawners landing more regularly and the offshore crabbers arriving weekly. The local prawn fleet continues to work away as weather permits with skippers reporting poor pickings.
Non-fishing saw the luxury motor cruiser Hampshire in to collect guests, the fishery protection vessel Hirta in for a crew change and the cruise ships Azores and Hebridean Princess in for day visits. The Portuguese-registered Azores was scheduled to visit Stornoway but diverted to Ullapool due to a stormy forecast. The 560 passengers had suffered a poor trip with storms of rain in Orkney, Shetland and Faroe before coming to sunny Ullapool. Unbelievably the sun shone until 1500 hours and with the ship departing at 1600 hours, the passengers thankfully had a great run ashore! Steven Gourlay took this great photo of two lovely ships in the harbour.
Ferry works are all but complete; contractors are conducting some final snagging items this week. Storage units for Calmac have yet to be built; this should happen over the next two months. The ice plant refurbishment and new delivery system will also be installed in the same timescale. The ferry berth steelwork requires a period of dry weather to complete fabrication, shot- blasting and painting and we hope that this will also be carried before too long.
Tall Ships trainees took part in a fund raising harbour carwash last weekend. Many thanks to those of you that braved the elements and ventured outside – it was much appreciated. This year the harbour has sponsored a number of opportunities for trainees. Four will sail as volunteer crew from Kiel to Ullapool, thirty seven youngsters will take part in a day trip from the harbour and eighteen trainees will be sailing from Ullapool to Kristiansand – all aboard the Wylde Swan. This takes the total number of trainees over the past five years to over 250 with funds raised primarily through the sale of the popular harbour calendar. Many thanks to all that continue to support this cause which creates such wonderful opportunities for our youngsters. The Dutch Tall Ship Tecla is due to arrive in Ullapool on the 18th June prior to departing on a weeklong voyage to St Kilda and the Western Isles followed by an eight day voyage south to Belfast. Two fantastic opportunities on your doorstep – for information please contact the ship direct at info@tecla.nl or check out the website at www.tecla-sailing.com