After over 10 years and investments of nearly £40million, Scrabster Harbour has been further transformed into a modern multi-purpose port facility.
For the past decade, the Scrabster Harbour Trust has been upgrading, replacing and adding to different parts of the Caithness harbour.
The latest piece of the project was the £19million redevelopment of the existing St Ola Pier, which was completed last month.
Sandy Mackie, trust manager, explained: “The redevelopment of the pier was the latest in a long line of changes at Scrabster, which we believe will deliver long-term sustainability not just at the harbour but in the local area.”
The harbour’s transformation doesn’t just allow for increased capacity but also makes it a truly multi-purpose facility that will suit a range of users, both current and potential.
“Offshore wind developments in particular are high on people’s agendas and as a harbour and area we can play our part towards reaching net-zero.”
The new St Ola Pier
Work began in June 2020 on the existing pier and continued until last month, despite the constraints caused by Covid-19.
“I give full credit to everyone involved because at times it was very challenging.”
The revitalised St Ola Pier now offers harbour users 500m deep-water berthing and a new outer berth that stretches to 250m.
The water depth on the inner berths is now 7.5m, while the outer berth offers 9m of depth.
The 9,000m2 pier also has a dedicated heavy lifting area.
Over a decade of change and development
In 2008, the Trust set out a plan and vision for further development of the port.
The plan aimed to capitalise on the port’s strategic location for a number of marine sectors by providing modern multi-user port facilities.
A £17.6 million project to create the deep-water Jubilee Quay was completed in 2013.
It was quickly followed by the acquisition of a new harbour workboat in 2014.
A new ice plant was created in 2017 to cement Scrabster’s place as a key whitefish landing port and fisheries centre.
Looking to the future
Now that the £38.7million redevelopment work is complete, Scrabster Harbour Trust are looking to retain and grow the activity of the harbour.
“We have vessels from industries ranging from fishing to energy through to cruise. Every sector has been affected differently by Covid-19 and will recover at a different pace and we will be here for them as they do.”
Sandy added: “But with the development work successfully delivered we are sticking to our mission as a Trust port to hand the harbour onto the next generation in a better condition and that makes us optimistic for the years and decades ahead.”
To find out more, visit the Scrabster harbour website.
