Arrival of Chinese Heavy-Lift Ship Briefly Disrupts Shetlands' Exports
The arrival of a Chinese heavy-lift ship at a small harbor in the Shetland Islands caused days of consternation for local shipping interests, blocking the transit of a cargo vessel that plays a key role in the regional economy.
On the evening of October 11, the COSCO semisubmersible heavy-lift ship Xiang Tai Kou arrived at Leith, carrying a cargo of wind turbine foundations. Xiang Tai Kou is reasonably large, with a deadweight of 66,000 tonnes, a beam of 46 meters and a length of 231 meters - far in excess of the Leith inner harbor's acceptable dimensions, which are limited by the Forth Lock.
Fortunately for Xiang Tai Kou, the port has a deepwater pier just seaward of the lock complex, on the eastern edge of the shipping channel. This is where the heavy lift ship berthed. However, the pier has a limitation: the moored ship takes up most of the fairway, and the concrete structure of the lock complex crowds the south end of the berth. When Xiang Tai Kou pulled in, the channel was effectively blocked for merchant vessel traffic. Getting Helliar past Xiang Tai Kou's stern in a 100-meter-wide channel - with a sharp turn to port to clear the lock - would be a feat of shiphandling, even if there were space.
Helliar finished the planned drydocking on time and exited in the early hours of the 14th, mooring alongside in the inner harbor to wait for the heavy lift ship to clear the shipping channel. Unfortunately for Shetland's economy, this small-scale blockade happened to coincide with peak season for livestock exports from the island. The limited truck capacity aboard ro/pax ferries - booked up at this time of year for passenger traffic - would not offset the dedicated freight vessel's absence, according to the Shetland Times.
"Forth Ports clearly do not appreciate how fundamental [Helliar] is to Shetland and how vital it is that our perishable product reaches the seafood industry’s national and international markets on time," said Seafood Shetland CEO Ruth Anderson in a statement earlier this week. "Holding the Helliar has serious financial implications for both suppliers and their customers."
Port operator Forth Ports sped up the unloading operation of Xiang Tai Kou in response to the complaints. “The vessel was on the port’s outer berth delivering substantial offshore wind farm components and, due to its size, this restricted access to the port’s lock gates," the port operator said in a statement. "This was planned well in advance and had been widely communicated to port users.”
At about 0800 hours on the morning of the 16th, Xiang Tai Kou cast off and transited briefly out into the Firth of Forth, allowing Helliar to depart for Aberdeen at last, AIS data provided by Pole Star Global shows.