Maritime transport (freight, ports and shipping)

Ports

Ports continue to adapt and develop to support trade, the oil and gas sector, fishing and cruise tourism, as well as developing support for the expanding renewable energy sector. Table a lists some examples of the last few years.

In addition, other types of development include innovations such as the provision of shore-side power facilities. This allows vessels to switch off their diesel engines and use electricity while in port, with environmental and fuel cost benefits. Fraserburgh and Brodick Harbours have both installed shore power connections, with financial assistance from Scottish Government agencies.

Port development to meet new market needs continues. A new fish market opened in Peterhead in 2018 with another two in Shetland (Scalloway and Lerwick) due for completion in 2020. Port infrastructure improvements to support lifeline ferries are being undertaken at Ardrossan, Brodick, Uig, Tarbert and Lochmaddy. A major development at Aberdeen south harbour is due for completion in 2021.

Approximately a third of Scotland’s freight (excluding rail and pipeline) was handled by Scotland’s sea ports in 2018, with the vast majority (95%) of this being carried through the 11 major commercial ports (Transport Scotland, 2020).

In 2018, 62 million tonnes of waterborne freight (both incoming and outgoing) passed through the top eleven Scottish ports. This was 16% less than in 2011, continuing a steady fall. In 2018, the eleven major ports accounted for 95% of the total traffic through Scottish ports. Exports accounted for 53.8% of the total freight through the eleven major ports while domestic traffic accounted for 27.7%. Imports were much lower, together accounting for 18.5% of the total freight (Transport Scotland, 2020).

Forth at 26.6 million tonnes was 5% down since 2011; Clyde at 9.1 million tonnes, 32% down; and Glensanda at 5.9 million tonnes about 2% down.

Figure a shows the tonnage by cargo type for each of Scotland’s 11 major ports alongside the total deadweight tonnage of vessels arriving by various vessel sizes, both for the period 2009-2018. Figure b, as an example, shows for Forth ports the vessel arrival numbers, by vessel type and deadweight range, again for the period 2009 to 2018. Further similar graphs for the major and other ports are available on the Transport Scotland web site under the heading ‘Datasets’. These graphs show the variety or domination of traffic and vessel type and the associated trends at the named port.

Stranraer / Loch Ryan (Solway SMR)

 

 

Cairnryan (Solway SMR)

 

Clyde (Clyde SMR)

 

 

Glensanda (Argyll MR)

 

 

Orkney (Orkney Islands SMR)

 

 

Sullom Voe (Shetland Isles SMR)

 

 

Cromarty Firth (Moray Firth SMR)

 

 

Peterhead (North East SMR)

 

 

 

Aberdeen (North East SMR)

 

 

Dundee (Forth and Tay SMR)

 

 

 

Forth (Forth and Tay SMR)

 

Figure a: Tonnage by cargo type (2005-2018) and Total deadweight tonnage of vessels arriving by various vessel sizes (2009-2018) at Scotland’s 11 major ports. Source: Scottish Transport Statistics (Transport Scotland, 2020) and Department for Transport maritime and shipping statistics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure b: Forth ports: vessel arrival numbers, by vessel type and deadweight range, 2009 to 2018. Source: Scottish Transport Statistics (Transport Scotland, 2020) and Department for Transport maritime and shipping statistics.

 

Figure c: Tankers alongside at Grangemouth, Firth of Forth. © Forth Ports Ltd.

Figure d: Oil rigs alongside in Dundee. © Forth Ports Ltd.

 

Vessel activity around the coast is further demonstrated by data collected from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s AIS ship position data collection. Figure e shows data of average weekly density of shipping traffic covering 2013 - 2017 for all vessel types. MS Maps NMPi includes separate data layers for the various vessel types: cargo; vessels engaged in dredging or underwater operations; fishing vessels; high speed craft; military or law enforcement vessels; non-port service craft; passenger vessels; port service craft; recreational vessels; tankers. Figure f elaborates the differences between traffic densities of 2012 and 2017, source data for these years being open to such comparison.

Figure e: Average weekly density of all vessel types 2013 – 2017. Source: MCA / MMO.

Figure f: Differences between average weekly density of all vessel types in 2012 and 2017. Source: MCA / MMO.

Ship-to-ship oil transfers are an important contribution to the logistics of the energy supply chain and take place at a few Scottish ports (Figure g).

Figure g: Number of Ship-to-ship oil and liquid natural gas (LNG) transfers in Scottish waters 2005-2018.

Source: Marine Scotland, Marine Scotland Information.

Maritime services

A report on Global Maritime Professional Services (PwC (2016)) cites Glasgow as having one of the key locations outside London for Professional Services – “Glasgow is particularly strong in cadet training as well as ship management”. Leading training organisations include City of Glasgow College, Clyde Group and Babcock International, as well as the Royal Navy’s own training capability in Faslane. Ship management has several key players in Scotland, including Anglo-Eastern, Norbulk Shipping, Northern Marine Ltd, V-Ships and Songa Ship Management, with the concentration in Glasgow considered the leading ship management cluster in Europe. Scotland also has a number of universities with global leadership positions in maritime, especially Strathclyde, Heriot Watt and Robert Gordon universities.

Shipbuilding

The top three local authority areas in Scottish shipbuilding in 2017 (Glasgow City, Aberdeen City and Fife) accounted for 26% of the business sites, 78% of employment, 86% of turnover and 78% of GVA in the sector (Scottish Government, 2019). It is not possible to identify a full individual list of local authorities with shipbuilding activity for confidentiality reasons. Also see shipbuilding case study.

Aberdeen harbour development

Aberdeen Harbour Board’s £350 million expansion project has passed its halfway point in terms of construction. Due to open in 2021, the new South Harbour will be able to accommodate vessels of up to 300 metres in length, and will comprise 1,400 metres of new, deep-water quay, with water depths of up to 15 metres at highest tides. 125,000 square metres of laydown quayside will be created, with large zones incorporating heavy lift capacities of up to 15 tonnes per square metre.

The completion of development will make Aberdeen Harbour the largest port in Scotland in terms of berthage, and the construction project itself is the single biggest in Trust Port History. It is estimated that the new facilities will inject an additional £900 million into the national economy by 2035, creating an additional 7,000 equivalent full-time jobs.

This project is representative of investment in strategic infrastructure, providing an opportunity for economic growth across a wide range of sectors. The new facilities will have the ability to support developments in offshore energy sources, including the transition from carbon-based fuels to renewables activity in the North Sea. The port will also have capacity to support marine tourism, whilst maintaining the capacity to support developments in ferry operations to the Northern Isles.

Aberdeen Harbour Board has sought to adopt environmental best practice. The South Harbour design provides the operational flexibility to support developments in alternative marine fuel sources and to act as a conduit for offshore power connections. The ability to divide the facility into segregated independent working zones could facilitate with future decommissioning activity (source, Aberdeen Harbour Board).

Figure h: Impression of the completed Aberdeen harbour development. © Aberdeen Harbour Board.