Quantcast
Channel: For Argyll » shipyard
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 5

Furnace Quarry shipping stone again

0
0

P1000312

This is time travelling is every way – Furnace Quarry, on the shore at the Loch Fyneside village, used to ship out over a million tonnes of crushed stone a year from timber pier, in boats loading up to 5,500 tonnes – to destinations all over the world.

Now it looks as if shipping out the aggregates may be a recurring feature for the quarry today – saving time and substantial cost in getting the stone to locations appropriate to specific contracts.

Harvest Caroline at Furnace PIer by Paul Hadfield Creative CommonsThe last boat to use the old pier  – and the first for very many years – was the MV Harvest Caroline, from Ferguson’s, based up at Loch Hourn, down from Kishorn and delivering feed to fish farms in and around Loch Fyne.

This was back on 24th August 2008 and she is seen then, left, berthed alongside the old Furnace timber pier – and was twice its length.

Last week – to 14th March, Breedon Aggregates, the quarry’s operator, build a new berth, inshore of the old pier, left, alongside the quarry storage area and at right angles to how the Harvest Caroline.

Yesterday the Burhou 1 arrived to christen the berth and this morning loaded 300 tonnes of stone in under two hours, for a trial delivery to Tarbert.

She will leave for Tarbert later in the day – and will be spending this week doing repeat runs from  the Furnace Quarry, delivering stone for sea defences at Tarbert.

P1000303

She can carry 800 tonnes but will be working on 500 tonne loads for the rest of the week.

So does this mean that Breedon will now be shipping stone from Furnace?Very likely. This week is a trial run to see how it goes.

The company has a contract for next month to deliver 150,ooo tonnes for the works at Brodick Harbour on Arran. If this week’s trial is successful, shipping the stone out of Loch Fyne and over to Arran wold be. by far the most time and cost efficient delivery.

P1000234

The Arran contract would normally have gone to the giant superquarry at Glensanda but their boats are too big so Breedon got the job from Furnace, with regular shipping movements of stone heading off down Loch Fyne.

P1000217

David Strachan, Manager of the Furnace Quarry was at the berth this morning, talking to Roman Stepaniak from the Burhou 1, as the loading was nearing completion and just before the hatch covers were winched back into place, the Skipper watching from the bridge deck.

P1000271

Burhou 1 has an interesting maritime life of her own. Her current name, Burhou, is that of a small loch in the Isle of Jersey.

She was built in 1978 at Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg 0 the yard that build the legendary German battleship, the Bismarck.

She and her sister ship, MV Isis are currently operated by Great Glen Shipping Company, established in 2010 and based at Corpach, at the head of Loch Linnhe at the entrance to the Caledonian Canal, just west of Fort William. The two boats ship timber, aggregates and other bulk cargoes throughout the west coast of Scotland, and south to England and Ireland.

P1000230

Burhou 1 hit the news last week at her home port of Corpach when she was witness to Koparvik’s MV Fri Sea caught by a gale force gust while she was berthing astern at the ier at Corpach. Fri Sea struck the pier at Corpach and went on to ground. Burhou 1 tried unsuccessfully to tow her off at high water but SD Kyle of Lochalsh had to come up the loch to do the necessary the following day.

P1000211

And now she’s inaugurating what looks like a new/old direction in the contemporary life of Furnace Quarry – first boat at the new berth, and first boat carrying the first load out.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 5

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images