The Harbour has been very busy these past few weeks. During the month of July we welcomed 72 visiting yachts from Norway, Germany, France, Poland, Australia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Ireland and elsewhere within the UK. Below is the Yacht Santa Maria waving goodbye – she started her voyage in June back in the Canary Islands.
In most cases the yachts are usually staying a couple of nights, however it is encouraging to see a rise in people deciding to stay additional nights once they are here !
“As a visiting yachtsman sailing around Britain, I’ve yet to visit a friendlier, more helpful marina/harbour. The showers, toilets etc are great too …”
During the summer months 2 new small shellfish boats have arrived in port. In addition to our usual local boats, a number of visiting fishing vessel have been using the port to consign their catches. Here are recent images of some of our local fishing boats taken by Leon Gray – thanks for these images.
We are pleased to report that dredging operations which commenced in May are now complete. Wyre Marine Services vessel Admiral Day dredged the outer harbour entrance, the sand bar and navigation channel. Malcolm Bremner Harbourmaster is very pleased with the dredge results which show the River Harbour channel now down to -4.6m CD and the Inner Harbour entrance -2.5m CD.
Cargo vessel Eems River delivered a consignment of onshore wind turbine components on 31 July 2018. This shipment is the first of 4/5 expected over the next couple of months. The tanker Antares has also been in with a delivery of fuel.
A number of new Crew Transfer Vessels have arrived in port to support the ongoing Beatrice construction works. We welcome the new boats Dalby Tees, Seacat Resolute, Seacat Mischief and Green Quest to the harbour. The Wick Harbour CTV fleet comprises at present : Rix Lion, Rix Panther, Rix Cheetah, Seacat Intrepid, Seacat Resolute, Seacat Mischief, Dalby Aire, Dalby Ribble, Dalby Tees, Marineco Mariah, Offshore Waddenzee, Fob Swath 3 and Green Quest.
A post has arisen for a Deputy Harbourmaster at Wick Harbour, working closely with and reporting to the Harbourmaster. As a valued member of a dedicated team, flexibility will be required working a rotational shift pattern to suit future harbour requirements.
Vital communication and management skills are needed along with a commitment and dedication for the position, providing high levels of customer care within our leisure and commercial sectors.
Applicants should hold relevant Marine qualifications, be computer literate and hold a full UK Drivers licence. Due to the nature of the role a reasonable level of physical fitness is required.
Duties include: pilotage activities, Port Security, assisting with the day to day operational management of the harbour and marina, attending to the movement and berthing of all vessels within the harbour limits .
Interested parties are invited to contact Wick Harbour Authority board on the undernoted e-mail for a full job description and application form.
Closing date for applicants Friday 24 August 2018.
office@wickharbour.co.uk
Wick Harbour Authority operates an Equality and Diversity policy
Following a meeting today with the transport company, an additional restricted area around the harbour has been added to enable the safe transportation of the wind farm blades. See above.
Dear Harbour User,
Harbour Operations – Wind Turbine Cargo & Car Parking
All Harbour Users are advised that 4/5 shipments of Wind Turbine components will be arriving on the Commercial Quay River Harbour. The first during week commencing 30 July 2018.
To comply with Health and Safety Regulations and to assist with these Harbour Operations NO PARKING will be available within the red highlighted areas on the attached harbour plan.
We aim to keep disruption to a minimum and will update all users when the second and future shipments are due. Please look out for the harbour NO PARKING signs. In addition, the Mart Jetty and Concrete Wharf must also be clear and is also highlighted on the plan.
During the discharging of this cargo and the transporting of the components, the access to the Commercial Quay will be closed.
Access will be restricted to harbour users operating from the Commercial Quay.
Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Harbour Office on
01955 602030 or email office@wickharbour.co.uk.
Yours faithfully
Malcolm Bremner
MALCOLM BREMNER
HARBOURMASTER
Notice to Mariners Vessel Movement 23 July 2018
A representative from Beatrice Offshore Windfarm reports that the renovation of the new Beatrice Operations & Maintenance Base is progressing well with most of the civil work expected to be completed within the next 3 months and with the buildings being scheduled to be complete early 2019. The three pontoons have been installed and will be ready to receive the first Crew Transfer Vessels (CTV) around mid-August. The team has endeavoured to keep the building work disruption down to a minimum and have worked closely with the local community to keep them informed of up & coming activities and progress.
This past fortnight the harbour has seen increased CTV activity with a number of new vessels arriving in port to support the ongoing Beatrice works. The number of CTV`s has now increased to 10 – Seacat Intrepid, Dalby Aire, Dalby Ribble, Marineco Mariah, Rix Lion, Rix Cheetah, Rix Panther, Seacat Resolute , Fob Swath 3 and Offshore Waddenzee.
A significant milestone in the project is the completion this week of jacket installation works out at the site. Siemens Gamesea Renewable Energy (SGRE) have commenced (July 2018) installation and commissioning works for the 84 Wind Turbine Generators with finalization of the installation expected around Spring 2019. Switch on of the first turbine is expected July 2018 with other turbines following on as commissioning of each module is completed.
21 vessels are now working offshore at the BOWL area conducting various construction and installation tasks. Take a look at some images recently taken out at site.
Wick Harbour Authority has not been chosen as the O & M port for the Moray East Windfarm development.
Chairman Willie Watt said ” It is disappointing for Wick and Caithness that it has gone to Fraserburgh , but we are still hoping to secure work from Moray East and support it in some way, although not to the extent we would have wanted . A large service operations vessel (SOV) will be based at the Moray East site 24 hours a day. This vessel will provide onboard workshops, spare parts, storage, crane and office facilities and will be supported with supplies delivered by other smaller vessels. This is a different strategy to that being adopted by BOWL who use smaller crew transfer vessels to support their windfarm operations. Wick Harbour at present cannot accommodate the size of SOV vessel being used by Moray East in the inner/outer harbour and with the River Harbour being subject to weather and draft restrictions we simply cannot accommodate such a large vessel on a 24/7 basis .”
“Wick Harbour Authority remains confident that we will play an important part in this, and other renewable projects in the Moray Firth. Wick`s close proximity to the windfarm sites in the Moray Firth basin make it an attractive choice for operators – Wick is 33km from Moray East while Fraserburgh is 70kms away.”
Mr Watt went on to say “We wish Fraserburgh and Moray East well and we will continue to further develop Wick Harbour for the various opportunities within the renewables market and fishing and cargo sectors.”
” The future for Wick Harbour remains bright, and we will be kept very busy supporting and improving the Harbour in relation to the varied businesses we have operating within the port. I would like to thank all our stakeholders, staff and Harbour users for their support and patience during the ongoing works which are re-shaping the port towards delivering a sustainable income for years to come.
Willie Watt
Chairman – Wick Harbour Authority
Wick Harbour Authority welcomes the arrival of the Marineco Mariah conducting activities associated with Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd.
Dear Harbour User,
Harbour Operations- Car Parking
Wick Harbour Authority extend their thanks to all Harbour Users for their continued patience during the ongoing habour re-development works. We are entering a very busy period for cargo operations over the next couple of months with deliveries of windfarm blades/turbines and pipes due July and August. This is in addition to our more frequent deliveries of other cargoes such as oil, gas, lime etc
As a consequence parking space on the Commercial River Pier Quay will be severely restricted to accommodate these forthcoming operations. We are grateful to those who have moved their vehicles when requested recently, however note that numerous vehicles are still parking outwith the designated Wick Harbour parking areas which are located near the Harbour Authority building. During these cargo movements the Harbour will request that all areas for cargo handling and storage will be clear of vehicles and excess equipment .
Over the next few months the construction for BOWL marine works may free up space on the Commercial Quay for equipment and/or containers.
We thank you in advance for your co-operation with this.
Malcolm Bremner
Harbourmaster
