£10 million renewables service vessel temporarily based at Gills
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
One of the UKs most modern marine renewables service vessels made her debut calls at Gills Harbour over the weekend.
The Isle of Jura was sailed on an eight-hour trip from her regular home port of Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth to the local harbour where small groups of people gathered to see her.
The 109ft vessel, launched in October 2019 from the award-winning Damen Shipyards in the Netherlands, had just successfully completed a contract on an offshore wind-farm in the waters of the Moray Firth, off the east coast of Caithness.
From the community-owned Gills harbour, the sturdy, modern vessel was sailed to the Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) internationally-acclaimed MeyGen site in the tidal currents that sweep as streams round the south-west boundary of Stroma.
The Damen DP2 vessel is geared towards renewables service, and its operation system allows for accurate positioning and minimal down time.
Accommodation comprises of heated and air-conditioned living spaces for 15 people, with the possibility to increase the capacity by means of containerised accommodation.
The vessel, has two powerful deck-cranes and is said to be considerably bigger than work boats normally used from the Gills base. As a result she was tied up at the 200m finger pier normally used by Pentland Ferries for MV Alfred.
The Isle of Jura has a small aluminium boat on board and it was launched to facilitate landing and departure at the slipway.
The Inverness-registered vessel belongs to Seafast Maritime Ltd, which has operational offices at Invergordon, Easter Ross.
