Combining industries, energy, land and sea, Kishorn Port Limited (KPL) is a company to be reckoned with.
The port, spanning over 45 hectares, is a joint venture between Ferguson Transport and Shipping – one of the largest independent marine, road logistics and port services companies in the Highlands and Islands – and Leiths (Scotland) Limited, one of the biggest producers of construction materials in Scotland.
Expertise from both of these long established companies, along with its impressive portfolio of assets, allows KPL to operate in its four main industries – aquaculture, decommissioning, oil and gas support and renewable energy – with the upmost skill and proficiency.
Aquaculture
Within its port, Kishorn manages vessels carrying feed that ends up in some of the country’s largest fish farms. It oversees the delivery of fish food to as far north as the Shetland Islands, and far south as Arran and Loch Fyne. The port also offers warehousing and logistics support.
Also operating on the port are Akva and Gael Force, two major fish farm cage manufacturers in Scotland.
The Scottish Salmon Company is currently constructing a £49million recirculating aquaculture facility within the port which will strengthen the port’s importance to the aquaculture industry.
By supporting it, Kishorn Port helps maintain jobs and supports rural areas.
Decommissioning
In 2020, Kishorn put itself on the map in terms of its assets and ability within the decommissioning sector.
When MV Kaami, a cargo ship sailing under the flag of the Bahamas, ran aground off the shores of Skye, she was declared a constructive write-off and taken to Kishorn Port as the nearest safe haven. Here, the vessel was skillfully dismantled and recycled. You can watch a video of the process here.
Colin Ortlepp, director of KPL, sees decommissioning as a key opportunity for the company which is now heavily engaging with the industry.
He says: “With the energy transition now happening across the country and many oil and gas fields coming to the end of their productive lives, there are a number of assets which will require decommissioning and recycling as part of the circular economy in the next 10 to 20 years.
“After the success of MV Kaami, we now see ourselves as well positioned to take on the decommissioning of a wide range of oil and gas structures, in particular floating production structures, as well as shipping assets. Our dry dock provides an exemplary environmentally secure facility within which to undertake such work.”
KPL is at an advanced stage of being included in the EU Ships Recycling List which will allow it to receive and recycle EU-flagged vessels.
Oil and Gas Support
Kishorn Port provides sheltered mooring and anchorage for those oil and gas structures still in use, where maintenance, preservation and upgrade services can be carried out in support of the industry.
Any structures requiring works can be brought to the dry dock, where currently the Voyageur Spirit – a floating production storage and offloading unit – is undergoing a period of preservation and maintenance.
Renewables
Scotland is currently in the middle of a process of transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy which offers the port significant opportunities.
With the ScotWind announcement earlier this year, one of the successful developers has chosen Kishorn Port (along with Stornoway Port) as the manufacturing and assembly ports for their proposed floating windfarm off the north coast of Lewis.
The scale of ScotWind, along with other offshore wind developments, offer huge potential for Scottish ports on a collaborative basis for many years to come.
Colin explains: “We see this as an extremely important and beneficial aspect of the port going forward, as it is all part of the energy transition to renewables.
“With our sheltered deep water location and port facilities we are definitely well placed to support the offshore wind industry.”
Kishorn’s decision to operate in more than one sector is extremely beneficial to its surrounding communities and economies; there are many prospects for career development, training and skills development within the port.
“We have a core team who come from the local area; KPL provides vital, sustainable direct and indirect employment,” says Colin, reflecting on the fact that in many rural areas young people often struggle to stay locally if jobs are not available.
“We’ve encouraged young people to come and work at the port and we want to build on this to generate even more jobs and sustain the community as a whole.”
Looking forward
In the near future, Kishorn is looking forward to extending its dry dock, meaning it can take in larger structures and vessels of up to 250 metres in length.
To create this extension, rock will be extracted from land at the rear of the existing dry dock and used to reclaim nine hectares of additional laydown land from the sea which can be used by various sectors including the offshore wind industry.
Additionally, the port has plans to create a further deep water quay to allow a greater range and draught of vessels access to quayside facilities.
From July 2022, the dry dock will become available for further projects. If you have a project in mind, or would like to find out more about using the dry dock, contact the team at: enquiries@kishornportltd.com
For more information, visit the Kishorn Port Ltd website.