Shetland Islands, Scalloway
August 30, 2020
30 Aug 20. Down the west Coast of Shetland we passed two very large harbours, both looked after by Ross Gordon, the deputy HM of Shetland Council Ports. For two serious reasons we did not visit at either...
In the north, Sullom Voe harbour is not designed for yachts. Twenty 36 inch steel oil pipelines bring 16,000 cubic metres of crude oil into the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal from all over the north sea - EVERY DAY! It is then loaded onto some of the largest oil tankers in the world. For over 40 years, pilots have overseen these tankers which operate in and out of these constricted waters of north Shetland. The last thing they want to worry about is a small yacht looking for somewhere to tie up!
The second major harbour on the west side is the fishing port of Scalloway (photo 5 credit Alamy Photos). Each day, up to 20 large fishing vessels unload up to 100 tonnes of white fish at the new fish market building which is linked to an electronic online fish auction. I am sorry we did not get a chance to call in there - the reason was simple - there was a storm coming with 50 knot winds!
Back to HM Ross, a qualified Ferry Master before he turned to harbourmastering. He oversees all 18 harbours and piers on Shetland apart from Lerwick (see previous post) and has particular responsibility for checking the rope ladders that large ships throw down for pilots to climb up. (That practice still amazes me.) He told me his most unusual incident involved a space rocket launch! The guys at the satellite launch site on the isle of Unst had forgotten to tell the HM they were launching their first rocket, and Ross received rather a lot of phone calls about an extremely large "flare" over the whole of north Shetland!
So instead of stopping, we headed south in hot sunshine with all of us enjoying some sunbathing and for one, some swimming - by that I mean diving in and getting out again very quickly! I look forward to returning to Shetland for some more exploring. Having been ruled by Norwegian "Vikings" for over six centuries it is not a surprise that some islanders want Shexit - independence from Scotland!
In the north, Sullom Voe harbour is not designed for yachts. Twenty 36 inch steel oil pipelines bring 16,000 cubic metres of crude oil into the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal from all over the north sea - EVERY DAY! It is then loaded onto some of the largest oil tankers in the world. For over 40 years, pilots have overseen these tankers which operate in and out of these constricted waters of north Shetland. The last thing they want to worry about is a small yacht looking for somewhere to tie up!
The second major harbour on the west side is the fishing port of Scalloway (photo 5 credit Alamy Photos). Each day, up to 20 large fishing vessels unload up to 100 tonnes of white fish at the new fish market building which is linked to an electronic online fish auction. I am sorry we did not get a chance to call in there - the reason was simple - there was a storm coming with 50 knot winds!
Back to HM Ross, a qualified Ferry Master before he turned to harbourmastering. He oversees all 18 harbours and piers on Shetland apart from Lerwick (see previous post) and has particular responsibility for checking the rope ladders that large ships throw down for pilots to climb up. (That practice still amazes me.) He told me his most unusual incident involved a space rocket launch! The guys at the satellite launch site on the isle of Unst had forgotten to tell the HM they were launching their first rocket, and Ross received rather a lot of phone calls about an extremely large "flare" over the whole of north Shetland!
So instead of stopping, we headed south in hot sunshine with all of us enjoying some sunbathing and for one, some swimming - by that I mean diving in and getting out again very quickly! I look forward to returning to Shetland for some more exploring. Having been ruled by Norwegian "Vikings" for over six centuries it is not a surprise that some islanders want Shexit - independence from Scotland!