Aberdeen Harbour upbeat over shipping traffic
First quarter sees slight fall but second quarter's start encouraging
 

Aberdeen Harbour ’s role as an international port has been highlighted in recent days with shipments to-or-from North and South America, Scandinavia, mainland Europe, Central and Eastern Asia, and West Africa .

The traffic has included pulp from the USA , Chile and Portugal , timber for Finland , scrap metal for Spain and rape seed for Belgium .

Oil-related shipments have included pipe for Georgia and a consignment of specially coated pipes for Sakhalin Island , in the far east of Russia .

The cargoes added up to almost 25,000 tonnes and, in addition, the past week has also seen several high value, low volume oil-related shipments to West Africa with which regular traffic continues to increase.

The activity follows a further rise in exports in the first quarter, which overall saw a small decrease in the total cargo handled at the port – down just over 20,000 tonnes to 1.20 million tonnes.

With 1,829 vessels using the port (1 st quarter 2006 -1,910), the tonnage of shipping was 5.30 million gross tonnes (5.32 million gross tonnes). While the tonnage of oil-related vessels was up again, the removal of NorthLink’s ferry, Hrossey, from service for over three weeks during upgrading of passenger accommodation was amongst factors affecting the overall total.

Colin Parker, Aberdeen Harbour Board’s Chief Executive, said: “The first three months saw another strong performance, and the busy start to the second quarter is encouraging, with the port’s international traffic and its hub role for oil-field exports important features.”