Ship repair and specialist fabrication firm Dales Marine reports a first time achievement as all of its seven docks around Scotland are full for the first time today.
Dales Marine’s docks are filled with vessels ranging from offshore supply vessels to ferries, and are all owned by different firms.
The work being carried out at Dales Marine’s six bases in Aberdeen, Leith (which has two docks), Grangemouth, Montrose, Greenock and Troon is a mixture of planned repair and maintenance, along with weather-related unplanned repairs.
Michael Milne, general manager and director at Dales Marine, which incorporates the Forth Group, said “We’re used to swapping work between our docks, which can be an interesting challenge logistically but it’s great to have all of them used at once. It’s certainly keeping us on our toes, but this is exactly the kind of work our staff relish – technically demanding with precision engineering and a fast turnaround and of course at a high quality.”
Milne continued, “Having the six bases is a major advantage as we can shift work between them, depending on the client’s deadline and where they want the boat to go afterwards. It also means that since they are located all around Scotland, we’re ideally placed for both North Sea and West Coast work, and less travel means less fuel costs to clients.”
At the firm’s drydock at its headquarters in Aberdeen, Farstad’s Far Superior is getting work carried out. The 2,999-metric-ton cargo ship, which was built in 1990, is mostly used as an offshore supply vessel.
At Leith, the offshore supply vessel Grampian Frontier is docked. At 2,064t, and 69m long, it was built in 1997 in Hull and is owned by North Star Shipping. Leith also has the Oxcar tug in getting repairs. The 249t, 30.64m-long boat is used by Forth Ports.
At Montrose, another offshore supply vessel is getting repairs, the 3,252t 84m-long Skandi Foula which is registered in Norway and was built in 2002.
The standby safety vessel Vos Ocean is at the firm’s facility at Grangemouth. Owned by Vroon, the ship is 750t and 55m long, and was built in 1983.
At Garvel, live fish carrier Ronja Sky is docked. Built in 2001, the 497t, 40m-long boat is registered in Norway but can often be found in ports on the West Coast of Scotland including Oban and Mallaig.
Calmac Ferries’ Loch Portain ferry is at Troon. Built in 2003, its usual route is Berneray to Leverburgh, and is named after a loch on North Uist. The 33-car 195-passenger vessel is 950t and 49m long, and has a top speed of 10.5knots with five of a crew.
