Commercial

Ferries

With over 95% of all visitors to the Outer Hebrides travelling through Stornoway harbour, the vast majority of people arriving into Stornoway use the ferry service.

Operated by CalMac Ferries Ltd, the largest vessel in the CalMac fleet M.V. Loch Seaforth sails between Ullapool and Stornoway three times a day. The sailing takes 2 hours and 45 minutes and travels past the scenic Summer Isles and through Loch Broom. The 116 metre roll on roll off ferry is capable of operating 24 hours a day and has capacity for up to 700 passengers and 143 cars or 20 commercial vehicles.

A separate drop trailer parking area has recently been constructed to assist with Commercial traffic.

The ferry terminal building is open each day at 6am and closes shortly after the latest ferry arrival each evening, approximately 9pm.

Further details of ferry times and booking process can be found on the Calmac ferries Website – www.calmac.co.uk

Fishing

Recent years have seen some stabilisation of the fishing industry, and the Port is now mainly shellfish landings. A new ice plant was installed in December 2015, ensuring a consistent and readily available product is available in the required quantities and at the required time. The modern facilities in Stornoway have ensured its continuing role as a designated landing port. The Port has a Fish Market (which is fully EU compliant ECD91/493/EC), adjacent Ice Plant as well as a comprehensive infrastructure of support services for the fishing industry.

The Port is ideal for crew changes due to the close proximity of Stornoway airport.

Aquaculture

Stornoway is the hub for the aquaculture sector in the Outer Hebrides.

Most of the fish farms are located on the east coast of Harris and Lewis, but an increasing number are being developed on the west coast. Overall production is growing, and the Outer Hebrides now account for one fifth of Scottish fish farming production.The leading operator in our Port is Bakkafrost. Their fish are landed at the harvesting station at Arnish, then transported to their Marybank facility for processing and shipping, then onwards for distribution via the ferry to the mainland.

Renewables

At the Arnish facility, there are suitable heavy load assembly areas and extensive storage for renewable equipment. The Port Authority has assisted delivery of windfarm components to all the local windfarms, and also exported various renewable components from the Arnish Fabrication facility

Offshore Oil and Gas

The Outer Hebrides provide a forward base for oil-related operations in the deep -water frontier areas of the Atlantic, off the north west of Scotland. Situated close to the Hebrides platform, Stornoway can play a major role in the future exploitation of resources as far offshore as the Rockall Bank.

Advanced digital technology, thrice daily ferry service to Ullapool and various daily flights (4 to Glasgow, 3 Inverness and 2 Edinburgh) make the island an ideal forward operating base.

As a result of the Lewis Offshore yard, originally built in the early 1970s, Stornoway has a strong connection within the Oil & Gas industry. As well a wide variety of barges/tugs associated with the Arnish facility, Stornoway harbour has a long history of oil-related traffic including supply vessels, seismic vessels, anchor handlers, workboats, etc.

Near to the Arnish Materials quay is the Barge grounding berth, suitable for a standard North Sea barge. The Port also has a rig anchorage area with a minimum depth of 14m, initially installed during the refurbishment of the Drillmaster/Buchan Alpha rig in the early 1980’s

General Cargo

The Port Authority handles a wide variety of general cargos throughout each year through both the town piers and also the Arnish pier. Lifeline cargos such as fuel deliveries are critical to the economy of the island, with the tanker berth at No. 2 pier an essential component of harbour infrastructure. Other common cargos include road salt, coal, cement

29th January 2021