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Port Development Adds to Fuglafjörður’s Edge |
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Written by B. Tyril
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Monday, 14 April 2008 |
As a new HFO bunkering facility opens at Fuglafjörður, the Faroe Islands’ deepest port continues harbor development work with massive land reclamation for fishing gear manufacture and servicing — and more in the pipeline.
At the busy Port of Fuglafjörður, expansion work in the northern part of the harbor could be set to continue in the coming years. In the second quarter this year, 64 meters of new quay with as much as 14 m depth alongside will open to serve the new Faroe Bunkers and its maritime clients, while land reclamation work further north is clearing the way for Vónin’s new net loft for pelagic trawls — the latter requiring a colossal 240,000 metric tons of rock to be tumbled into the sea to reclaim 7,000m2 of land. Elsewhere in the same neighborhood, an expansion of the Cold Quay is set to take place in the near future, with more in store according to the port authority, the Municipality of Fuglafjörður.
“We’ve already appropriated as much as 26 million [3.5m eur] since last year for this harbor development project,” says the mayor Sigurð S. Simonson. “As to the question of further investments and the time frame in which they may be made, I think the will of the Municipality Council will largely be determined in the months ahead by the level of activity and the sense of urgency seen. But the fact of the matter is that we may well need to invest another 24 million [3.2m eur] before too long.”
How long, says Mr Simonsen, should depend on whether the projected level of new business will materialize as the new heavy fuel oil bunkering facility commences operations.
“The ships calling at this port tend to get bigger and that trend is likely to accelerate with the new bunker station. If we’re going to see the kind of activity that some of these people are predicting, we’ll need to take this to the next stage or else we won’t have sufficient berthing space to offer. So we’re now in the process of doing all the necessary calculations and drawings that go with a readymade plan for an extension of the Fuel Quay, so that we can move quickly should that be necessary.”
So with an additional 130 meters of berth, the optimum solution envisaged by the mayor would be in place, bringing the port authority’s total commitments in this development plan to 50 million dkk (6.7m eur) — that is, not counting the investments of businesses involved, which are already close to that amount.
This may be a large sum for a community of only 1,500 people but then again, Fuglafjörður is a major pelagic port in the northern hemisphere, where high ship traffic generates high revenues. That means paying back investment loans this size may not prove much of a problem for the Port after all — the challenge may rather consist in forging the consensus necessary to go forward in a timely manner.
“In terms of investments, we’re dealing with write-off periods of at least 30 years,” Mr Simonsen said. “These harbor sections will typically have a 60-year life cycle or even more, and that’s sufficient for a healthy return on investment.”
With a throughput of 600,000 metric tons, much due to the giant Havsbrún fishmeal factory, the well sheltered Port of Fuglafjörður offers a one-stop concept for pelagic fishing vessels — from landing their fresh catch to storing their frozen goods, getting fishing gear issues resolved, taking marine fuel of their choice, receiving supplies, or having repairs done.
The mayor’s grand plan takes into account the likelihood that tankers of considerable size will be calling at the port in the future to supply oil to the new storage tanks.
“By extending the new Fuel Quay toward the dock that will be connected to the planned net loft for pelagic trawls, we will solve three problems at once: the bunkering facility will have sufficient area for its traffic, the fishing gear company will have the necessary berthing space, and the pelagic fishing vessels will be able to receive trawls and nets while at the same time taking fuel.”
The harbor sections from the Fuel Quay to the planned Trawl Quay are supported by a huge ramp that stretches all the way down to a depth of 30 meters — the ramp consisting of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of big chunks of rock used to reclaim land for the development.
Link to pdf presentation...
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Maritime & Related