Spotted: Busiest Day for Port of Ayr

Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Ayr has recorded one of its busiest days in the last 25 years, with five vessels calling at this port on August 18, 2016. 

Each of the five ships was accommodating different cargoes such as onshore wind turbine components, coal exports and timber discharge.

According to the port authority, it was one of the busiest weeks in Ayr in a generation, with ten vessels calling at the port. The last time the port saw this level of activity was when 1.1 million tons of open cast coal was exported through Ayr in 1991.

The boost in ship numbers has been a result of growing demand to serve wind farm projects underway in the south-west Scotland, ABP said.

“Following our success in supporting additional cruise calls this year, we are now actively supporting the development of more renewable power in south-west Scotland,” Andrew Harston, ABP Short Sea Ports Director, said.

Situated on the West Coast of Scotland at the entrance to the Firth of Clyde, the Port of Ayr handles around 360,000 tons of cargo each year.