maritime
The north east's geography means that the transport of goods by sea is a major component in the transport system, with Peterhead and Aberdeen being the principal ports. Nestrans will work with the north east harbour authorities and main harbour users to realise new maritime related opportunities and address issues of surface access to the harbours.
Peterhead Port Authority completed £33.5M plans for new 650ft quay at the Smith Embankment and a new 328ft breakwater at the Albert Quay in October 2010. Aberdeen Harbour Board has awarded a contract for the first phase of Torry Quay redevelopment that includes the demolition of existing wharves at Torry Quay and replacing them with 300m of realigned, deep draughted quays constructed from steel piles and reinforced concrete, which are more suitable for modern, deep draughted ships and heavy cargoes. Works started in April 2010 and are expected to take 18 months to complete. The final phase of Point Law peninsula improvements to realign Clyde St, demolish redundant buildings and improve surfacing is nearing completion.
The north east is also ideally placed, through its work with the North Sea Commission to benefit from European Commission projects building upon the Northern Maritime Corridor project, which aims to transfer goods from road to sea.
Nestrans coordinates local authority involvement in ferry matters on behalf of the two Councils and provides input and feedback as necessary in relation to ferry matters. In the past year responses have been submitted to the Scottish Government's consultations relating to the Review of Scottish Ferry Services, the Tendering of the next Northern Isles ferry service and the range of possible measures to reduce costs and improve efficiencies on the Northern Isles ferry services in the short term.
The Government is progressing the Ferries Review to enable them to put in place a long-term ferries strategy to 2022. A draft Ferries Plan will be subject to further public consultation in 2011. The tendering process for the Northern Isle Ferry Services will be launched in 2011, with the new contract due to be in place by July 2012.
