RJ MacLeod have had a fortnight off, between 19^th December and 5^th January, so the overnight ferry berth works are on hold, and the crane was lowered for the fortnight. Typically, it has been the calmest and driest weather for months over Christmas and New Year, while works have been stopped, and the snow has arrived for them restarting! We hoped that the piling would be complete by Christmas, but there is still a couple of days work piling to be done before the work is complete. The next phase will then be to dig out the existing circular cells to allow the new face to be tied into the existing structure. 

The Caralisa continued to land Sprats throughout December, but the other local boats were mostly up North fishing, so it has been quiet in terms of landings. Towards the end of December, two new vessels arrived from the Oban area, the Atlantia, and Lady Nicola. Both are participating in a trial using electrofishing to dive for Razor Clams. The trial originally began in 2018, and was due to complete at the end of January 2025, but was then extended to 2027.  Electrofishing is seen by some as a contentious method for catching razor clams, and is banned within the EU, but the Scottish Government are keen to see whether a sustainable fishery is possible, and the vessels participating in the trial are limited to 110 days per year. If you see a small fishing boat that you don’t recognise close in to the shore, particularly in sandy areas, then it’s likely that it is one of these vessels, with the divers in the water.

It’s the time of year when Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics are published, and the statistics for 2024 are now available on the Scottish Government’s website. These split the country into 18 port districts, so are not directly comparable with landings through just Mallaig Harbour, but still make for interesting reading. As in previous years, Peterhead and Shetland are the most significant ports in terms of both value and volume of landings. Peterhead is away out in front, with 216,265 tonnes landed, valued at £248.7 million. Landings into the Mallaig district in 2024 were very similar to 2023, at 1,807 tonnes, by far the majority of which was shellfish (1,347 tonnes). Landings were valued at £7.206 million. While this sounds like a lot, it actually placed Mallaig 14^th of the 18 port districts, with Portree and Oban districts both landing more by value.

Mallaig’s Lifeboat returned from its overhaul in December. The relief boat is heading to Tobermory next, but not until mid-January, so we have had both in the Harbour for the last few weeks. They tied alongside one another on the pontoons to swap over equipment, which made for a good photo opportunity!

We’ve had a busy, and varied year at the Harbour, so I thought it might be worth summarising some of the highlights from each month:

January: John MacPhie joined us as Deputy Harbour Master. We took ownership of Unit 15, (formerly Andy Race’s)

February: We had the largest single landing of the year, from the Banff registered ‘Venture’.

March: We began the process of demolishing the old Denholms Ice Plant, and signed a contract to install solar panels on the feed shed.

April: The new pontoon fingers were installed and the works to install a shower for visiting fishermen in the Prawn Market were completed. We awarded £4,600 of community funding to local community groups under the first of our formalised application process for funds.

May: Works to strengthen the pillars beneath ‘Jary’s Wharf’ were completed. The lighthouse was painted and the new solar system installed. The FSV Scotia arrived to start sea trials.

June: The solar panels were installed on the feed shed, although the wiring was not completed and they didn’t begin generating until later in the year! We hosted our AGM in the West Highland Hotel.

July: The Eda Frandsen and Provident were back in Mallaig for the summer season. The TS Shtandart was anchored off Mallaig and then at Knoydart, creating a bit of media interest. The vessel is subject to sanctions, having been built in Russia, and was on its way to participate in the Tall Ships race in Aberdeen, but was subsequently refused entry to Aberdeen.

August: Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Transport visited the Harbour to announce the award of Transport Scotland funding for the overnight ferry berth. Milligan Transport’s new cargo vessel, Miss Marley, arrived.

September: September felt like a month of celebrations, with the Marina Fun Day on the 6^th, the naming ceremony for the FSV Scotia on the 10^th, and RJ MacLeod beginning works on the overnight ferry berth at the end of the month!

October: It was back down to earth when Storm Amy blew the canopy off one of the high tower lights, and caused damage to the pontoon. We had to undertake emergency repair works to a scour hole on the ferry linkspan berth, which resulted in the Coruisk having to relocate for two nights, and no ferry service to Skye.

November: Work continued on the overnight ferry berth, with piling works being the most obvious sign of progress. The first landing of Sprats was on 18^th November. We hosted the first AGM of the Sound of Sleat Ferry User’s Group.

December: December has felt like a lot of background work, putting in place the foundations for next year’s projects and progress!

The Ronja Commander was back in the Harbour over New Year, and after no display last year, the fireworks display to bring in the New Year was back, bigger and better than ever! There’s a short video of part of the display on our Facebook page for those who are interested.

Jacqueline McDonell

The overnight ferry berth works are progressing – some of them quite visibly, and others not so visibly! Several of the king posts have been driven in for the berth itself. Meanwhile, works have started on the second phase of filling in the scour hole at the linkspan berth. 600 tonnes of materials have been brought in, and are being placed over the side by digger and positioned by divers working under the water. There are another 900 tonnes due, which will be placed using a long reach excavator with GPS to ensure that the top layer can be accurately placed to maintain safe access to the berth. The infill is due to be completed by the time the Lord of the Isles returns to service on 10^th December, and the piling shortly after.

The Caralisa has switched to Sprats for the season, with the first landing on 18^th November. It is always good to see the activity on the pier when the Sprats are being landed. The Primrose is also back at sea this month, after a long period tied up in the Harbour.

More good news this month is that the new Coxwain of the Lifeboat, David Ferguson, has completed all his training, and is officially ready to take the boat to sea under his own command. This, and the fact that several crew members have been passed out as mechanics, and that there are a number of new Deputy Launch Authority’s ready to step up, means that the lifeboat is in a much stronger position to move forward after a period of uncertainty.

We were delighted earlier in the year when the Mallaig, Ardnamurchan and District Pipe Band announced that they were holding a tune writing competition in honour of the support that Mallaig Harbour Authority have provided them since their inception. It was agreed that the tune would be a March, and after a bit of debate, we decided to keep the name simple, and call the winning tune ‘The MHA-rch’. There were sixteen entries in total, and the Pipe Band gathered on Saturday 22^nd November in the West Highland Hotel to announce the winner and celebrate with a wee afternoon ceilidh. The Harbour Authority was well represented, with myself, Audrey and John from the staff, and two of our Board Members, Karen and Helen attending. We were delighted to be presented with a framed copy of the winning tune, which was composed by Dougie Beck, and in return presented Dougie with a bottle of Mallaig Harbour Water, and all the other entrants with a miniature, and a pen for their next composition!

We hosted the Sound of Sleat Ferry Users’ group AGM, in conjunction with Sleat Community Trust on 12^th November. At the meeting CalMac indicated that there would be more disruption to the Mallaig Armadale route, with the Loch Fyne potentially not being available until July of next year to run alongside the Coruisk.    

British Marine Scotland have commissioned a study, funded by Crown Estates Scotland, to support the long-term growth of Scotland’s leisure marine sector. The project aims to better understand the challenges around skills, training, and workforce development across the industry and arrive at a series of recommendations and a strategy to enhance the economic viability of the marine sector in Scotland. As a Harbour Authority, we are really keen to see the sector thriving, and were happy to participate in the study. We have also shared a survey on our Facebook page, as part of the study, so if you have views about the challenges around skills and training, then please take a few minutes to complete the survey. The link for it is https://forms.gle/bzBJEtP6h1xGdpF57.

I was also kindly invited to the Scottish Shipping Benevolent Association annual dinner in Glasgow as a guest of CMAL. The SSBA gives funding and grants to people with current or past links to the shore-side maritime sector in Scotland. They can provide one-off lump sums or ongoing financial support to SSBA members, appropriate individuals and/or their families for many different reasons, and can also award grants for training and education within maritime related disciplines. You can find out more information on their website, https://scottishshippingcharity.org/.

Our staff once again supported the Mallaig Community Council to ensure that the Christmas lights and tree were all in place ready for the switch-on on Friday 28^th November. We are lucky to have a good team of staff who will roll up their sleeves and get involved with community efforts including the Christmas lights, and we are very grateful to them for everything they do!

Finally, we would like to extend our usual good wishes to all Harbour Users and the wider community for Christmas and New Year when it comes.

Jacqueline McDonell

After a varied career in the army, farming and e-commerce Mark Ashley-Miller from Dorset embarked on a voyage circumnavigating the British Isles with the aim of visiting every harbour and meeting every Harbour Master and in the process raising funds for The Seafarer’s Charity. Mark visited Mallaig Harbour and met up with our Harbour Master James McLean in 2020.

Mark has written a book about his travels and below is the feature on Mallaig Harbour.

It will be obvious to everyone in Mallaig that the works on the overnight ferry berth are progressing. You can see the crane from almost everywhere within the village!  For one week we had two cranes, while one built the other. The crane will be in-situ until mid-December, while the piling works are being undertaken. The contractors have built a temporary platform over the Harbour to enable these piling works. The first stage of filling in the underwater ‘hole’ on the linkspan berth was completed over two nights on the 8^th and 9^th October. To do this, we had to ask the Coruisk to vacate the berth overnight for these two nights. Unfortunately, this coincided with an issue with one of the Loch Nevis’ Schottel systems, which meant that the Loch Nevis was unable to manoeuvre safely. The Master of the Coruisk deemed that there were no other safe berths in Mallaig or at Armadale, which resulted in the vessel relocating to Craignure for the first evening, and then on to Kennacraig as there were no other available berths for the second evening. This obviously caused disruption to the Mallaig-Armadale service, which was then compounded by the Loch Bhrusda having to be redeployed to the Small Isles service to cover for the Loch Nevis. We didn’t take the decision lightly to ask the Coruisk to vacate the berth, but the dive inspection the week previously had uncovered an issue that had to be resolved as quickly as possible so there was no alternative. CalMac are now operating on their winter timetable, so hopefully there will be less need for disruption to ferry services as a result of the works.

Still on ferries, the AGM of the Sound of Sleat Ferry User’s Group will take place on 12^th November. It will be hosted jointly by us in the Harbour Office, and by Sleat Community Trust in their offices on Skye, or you can request a link to join online. The group are still keen to have the wider views of local businesses and the community in general, so that any requests made to CalMac are backed by evidence, and represent the views of people locally. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey, if you are at all impacted by ferry operations. It can be accessed from the following link https://forms.gle/naKm14UNExXidYMX7 or search for ‘Sound of Sleat Ferry Users Group’ on Facebook, and the post with the link to the survey is pinned to the top of the page.

Throughout the works, we are maintaining access to the Outer Harbour for vessels, but we have obviously lost the use of the ‘stub’ pier, where the Loch Bhrusda would normally lie, for the duration. This has meant that, through October, the Bhrusda has been lying where the Loch Fyne would lie. We have had various operations going on, including smolt transfers in the Outer Harbour and a busy period for fish feed, which has resulted in some of the Aquaculture vessels having to use the inner harbour. We’ve had lots of comments on the fact that both the MV Settler, and her ‘twin’ the MV Ocean Aquila were lying alongside one another at the point of the fish pier at various times throughout the month. It is not particularly uncommon for us to have both vessels in the Harbour, but they would normally have had separate berths in the Outer Harbour so it would not be so obvious!

The Marina is now closed for the season. October was a very quiet month, probably as a result of Storm Amy chasing all the remaining yachts south at the start of the month – although we did have a Navy vessel, HMS Biter, in over the weekend of the 18^th and 19^th October, and we have had a couple of visits from RNLI Lifeboats on passage. Storm Amy also caused a bit of damage to pontoon moorings and chains, so some work will have to be undertaken over the winter months to resolve this.

Coast Construction Management were able to come and repair some of the other damage that was done by the storm, having hired a long-reach cherry picker from Inverness. Unfortunately, it didn’t have quite long enough a reach to replace the canopy on the high tower light that was damaged, so we need a Plan B for this! We’re hoping that we will be able to take advantage of some of the crane works going on as part of the overnight ferry berth to replace the canopy.

We were all saddened this month by the passing of James Hepburn, our Harbour Master’s father-in-law. James managed George Walker and Sons Fish Sales office in Mallaig for many years, at the height of fishing in Mallaig, and had many tales to tell about his time around the Harbour. Allan Henderson delivered a very heartfelt eulogy at the funeral, including some lighter moments, which I suspect will be published elsewhere in West Word. The sympathies of all at Mallaig Harbour Authority go out to James’ family. 

Finally, we are looking forward to welcoming the Screen Machine between Monday 10^th and Friday 14^th November. Films will be screened on Tuesday 11^th, Wednesday 12^th and Thursday 13^th. Obviously, RJ McLeod’s compound has taken up the space that we would normally use for the Screen Machine, so we are going to have to put it on the main pier, down by the CalMac marshalling lanes.

Jacqueline McDonell

Please see Notification of Overnight Ferry Berth Nighttime Working letter from RJ McLeod:-

Most of you will have seen the announcement from Transport Scotland that we have been awarded the funding for the overnight ferry berth. The contract has been awarded to RJ MacLeod through the SCAPE framework, who would like to be on-site as soon as possible, so that the works can be completed while the ferries are on their winter timetable, minimising disruption. At the moment, we are hoping to start the works on 22^nd September. Inevitably, there will be some upheaval, and the works and the compound required for the contractors will mean that we are even more tight for space around the Harbour than normal for a few months. It will be great to see the works finally done, and will certainly make life a lot simpler in the Outer Harbour going forward, so hopefully Harbour users can put up with the disruption for a few months. The announcement was made by Fiona Hyslop when she visited the Harbour on Wednesday 13^th August. This coincided with me being on annual leave, so the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that I am not in the photos!

I have included a diagram showing where the works will take place.

The works will require a bit of juggling of berths in the Outer Harbour, especially while the summer timetable is still in place (until mid-October) and the Loch Fyne and the Loch Bhrusda are still on service. It felt like we just got back on track with the ferries that should have been running on each of the routes, and then the Lochnevis went out of service due to mechanical issues.  While this will give us an extra berth to play with if she is not back on service when the works start, it does mean a lot of disruption for the Small Isles. The Lochnevis was due to go for planned maintenance in September but the enforced early start to this left the islands with a much reduced service for a few days.

Other big news last month was the arrival of ‘Miss Marley’ for Milligan Transport Limited on the 15^th August. Built by Ardmaleish Boatyard on Bute, and named after Jamie Milligan’s daughter, ‘Miss Marley’ joins the ‘Spanish John’ and ‘Lyrawa Bay’ to provide freight services from Mallaig.

August 4^th saw the worst summer storm for many years. We were fortunate in the Harbour that the only ‘casualty’ was a French yacht, ‘Aquarius’, which had been moored at Isleornsay but which had broken its mooring and dragged its anchor, and which had to be rescued by the RNLI Lifeboat. Some of you may have seen the videos of the Lifeboat leaving the Harbour, which were shared on Facebook locally, or the video of the rescue taken from on board the Lifeboat itself. We could hear the distress calls on the VHF in the office, and were watching the yachts on moorings in our own marina rolling so we could understand the panic of the French crew. However, I did have my own moment of panic watching the boat leaving the Harbour after I had gone home to collect my son so he could go and crew the Lifeboat with his father!  

The busy season at the Marina has continued, with 496 overnight stays in July, up around 30 on last year. Summer has passed quickly, and Provident has already left for the season, while Eda Frandsen sailed off on 6^th September, heading south to Oban initially, before the onward journey to Falmouth.  This coincided with our Marina Fun Day, which had been postponed from earlier in the season.

We are also hosting the naming ceremony for the FSV Scotia, on the 10^th September, so again, you will have to wait for next month for a full report from this. The introduction of the FSV Scotia has allowed the Harvest Station to have a period of shut-down this month, allowing for deep cleaning and maintenance to be undertaken. The volume of fish being harvested through Mallaig has remained high, it has just been done in a different way. We have also had a busy period in terms of fish feed, with over 4,700 tonnes of feed being shipped through the Feed Shed in July. This is the largest monthly volume shipped since 2019, when the Aqua Senior did most of the deliveries, supplemented by various Ferguson Shipping vessels.

We are glad to report this month that the scaffolding is finally down and the solar panels on the feed shed are operational. We have to thank Ian Bolas of Hebnet, who has stepped in and provided internet connectivity at both the feed shed and power house, so that we are able to monitor electricity production and usage.

Jacqueline McDonell

The big excitement this month around the Harbour has been the pods and pods of dolphins which have been seen throughout the month, all around the area. Those of us lucky enough to live in Mallaig have even been watching them from our houses. They have been very playful, and it’s been easy to see where they got their Gaelic name ‘Leumadair’, which is from leum – to jump! Such large pods of dolphins are always a good sign of lots of feeding in the water, which bodes well for our local fishing fleet.

A few months ago we had a film crew around the Harbour, filming local fisher(wo)man, Erin MacKenzie. The result of this filming was a new documentary, part of the ‘Our Lives’ series on BBC, ‘Female Fishermen – Beyond the Buoys’. If you missed it, you can catch up on iplayer.

Those of you familiar with the ice plant will know that it has never worked as successfully as we hoped, and that over the years, we have had various issues with it. However, we suspect that this month’s issues will not be recurring very often. During the heatwave over the weekend of the 12^th and 13^th July, the compressors could not cope with the heat! Despite Hugh and Danny’s best efforts over the weekend, knowing that we had 12 tonnes of ice due to go out on the Monday, we had to admit defeat and call in the Engineer, who reported several similar issues throughout Scotland that weekend, all caused by the heatwave!

The Marina has continued to be busy throughout the month, with 427 overnight stays, almost the same as last year’s 423. I mentioned a few months ago that Scottish Seafarms had installed a public access defibrillator at their offices across from the Harbour Office, and that we were relocating ours to the Marina to provide some coverage at that end of the village. Thanks to Colin and Callum King, this is now installed in a prominent position on the front of the Marina office, and is accessible 24/7.

By the time you read this, we will hopefully have both the Coruisk and the Lord of the Isles back on service from Mallaig. The Coruisk returned to service on Friday 25^th July, followed by the Lord of the Isles on Saturday 26^th July, and both are due to operate their normal services throughout August and until 7^th September. Details of what services will operate from then to the end of the summer timetable in October will be published in early August.

We hosted another meeting of the Sound of Sleat Ferry Users Group on 9^th July. Details of the group can be found on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/soundofsleatferrygroup/ A short survey re the ferry disruption has been complied, and we are encouraging all local businesses and organisations who are impacted to please complete the survey – link below https://forms.gle/Tzcg7NzhLs6QVtKU8 . This will give the group evidence to strengthen our voice in discussions with CalMac. I was able to meet with Kate Forbes MSP on 22^nd July, and one of the topics for our discussion was the ferry services, and the infrastructure required in Mallaig going forward to support them.

On 13^th July, some of you may have seen the Tall Ship Shtandart sailing past the Harbour and into Loch Nevis. TS Shtandart was built in Russia, as a replica of the 1703 Frigate commissioned by Peter the Great, and launched in 1999. She was originally making her way to Aberdeen to join the Tall Ships Race. However, due to sanctions imposed when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, which were extended to include replica ships in June 2024, TS Shtandart is not permitted to dock in British Ports, including Aberdeen, and therefore was refused permission to formally participate in the Tall Ships Race. If you want to read more about both sides of the argument, you can access the TS Shtandart website at https://shtandart.eu/ and the ‘No Shtandart in Europe’ website at https://bernardgrua.net/. The ship’s berthing in Loch Nevis did result in a morning of seeking advice from various sources and a bit of a moral dilemma for us in Mallaig as to whether we would allow them to berth and take water if requested. In the end we were thankful that the request did not come, and that Shtandart sailed off North.

The Screen Machine is due to visit from 18^th to 20^th August. Both the Harvest Station and the FSV Scotia have been very busy discharging salmon, in the evening and overnight. This means that there are 20+ Ferguson’s tankers each night, and a lot of activity in the area where we would normally park the Screen Machine. As a result, we are looking at alternative areas for the August visit, which will be safer for those visiting the cinema, and less noisy. Keep an eye on our Facebook page nearer the time for more details of the location.

Finally this month, a wee reminder that we still have some funding left in our Community Funds. Funds are be available to groups based in the Mallaig Area, who operate on a not for profit basis,  are either constituted or incorporated, and who have a dedicated bank account for the organisation. The project being supported should have demonstrable community benefit for the Mallaig area. We can consider support to organisations who are open to a wider community area than purely Mallaig, as long as these organisations can demonstrate benefit to the community in Mallaig. There is a little over £1,000 left, and the closing date for applications for the September Board meeting is 15th August 2025, and for the December meeting is 7^th November 2025. If you would like the link to the form (which is very simple to complete) please email me at jacqueline@mallaigharbourauthority.com

Jacqueline McDonell