THE appeal of Shetland as a stop on cruise trips has helped increase arrivals to Lerwick Harbour, but the ongoing downturn in the North Sea held back growth.
Vessel arrivals to the harbour in 2016 numbered 5,036, up 1.3 per cent, with the tonnage of shipping increasing by 7.4 per cent to 12.4 million gross tonnes.
Lerwick Port Authority, which operates the harbour, said a record number of cruise ships, plus more yachts, workboats and salmon vessels helped the increase, while more traditional vessels servicing the fishing and oil and gas industries reduced.
Overall passenger numbers increased 10 per cent to 184,487, thanks to a 67 per cent jump in visitors on cruise ships, to a record 50,723.
Chief executive, Sandra Laurenson, said: “The cruise industry is heading for a second successive record season in 2017 at Lerwick. Given the circumstances, oil and gas activity met our modest targets for 2016 and will remain quieter in 2017. Freight tonnages and ferry passengers held up well, although reflecting completion of onshore energy projects. Fishing has been positive in 2016, with improved value, and anticipated growth is leading to optimism in the sector.”
Oil-related arrivals were down 22.5 per cent at 402, in line with expectations.
Tonnage was unchanged at 2.6 million gross tonnes, due to larger vessels using the port. Oil-related cargo drop 25 per cent to 118,869 tonnes, impacting on overall freight, which fell 12 per cent to 953,451 tonnes,
Total fish landings were 57,000 tonnes, valued at £57m, which was down 10 per cent on volume but up 21 per cent on value
Ms Laurenson said the harbour had a positive outlook, with capacity and competitiveness reinforced by completion of projects totalling £30m, including new quays and expansion of deep-water facilities, including for decommissioning.
She added that plans for a new white fish market at the harbour are at an advanced stage, with a contract award due in the spring.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here