Scapa
Flow Harbour
The Best Natural Deep Water Harbour in NW Europe Operated and controlled by Orkney Islands Council
Harbour Authority
Strategically located on
global shipping routes to Northern Europe
Located just north of the
UK mainland, Scapa
Flow harbour is strategically located at the confluence
of the Atlantic and the North Sea. The Pentland
Firth, which separates Orkney from the UK mainland
is a major shipping channel for vessels linking
Northern European ports to global destinations.
Almost entirely surrounded
by the islands of the Orkney archipelago, the
deep waters of Scapa Flow offer an unrivalled
sheltered harbour, reinforced by the famous Churchill
Barriers linking the eastern islands, leaving
two entrances to the whole body of water.
Since 1975 the UK's second
largest North Sea Oil Terminal has been operating
in Scapa Flow with hundreds of millions of tonnes
of crude oil loaded to tankers for transport to
refineries in the UK and further afield. Scapa Flow
Harbour has an established track record of successful
operation.
In recent years Scapa Flow
has developed
a growing business in aggregation of oil cargoes
through Ship-to-Ship transfers carried out in the
Harbour. There is plenty of scope for developing
this business.
The rapid growth in container traffic,
and in container ship size and draught, combined
with growing congestion at Uk and continental European
ports, opens up a major new development opportunity
for the Harbour - as a location for a container
transshipment port. Plans are being actively progressed
to bring this opportunity to fruition.
Some 20 hectares
of flat industrial
land is available, on the island of Hoy, on the
shores of Scapa Flow. This site was the former navel
base of Lyness and lies on the landward side of
a deep water berth, the Golden Wharf. It is operated
as an industrial estate by Orkney Islands Council.
Nearby underground wartime tanks provide an additional
opportunity.
Orkney Islands
Council, as
a harbour Authority, has a commercially orientated
Harbours Department which has operated Scapa Flow,
providing pilotage and towage facilities, since
the inception of the oil port in 1975. Full details
of services and contacts are given.
A wide range
of other harbour-related services are provided by
private companies based in Orkney, a vibrant community
of almost 20,000 population, which itself sustains
a full range of commercial and social facilities.
Scapa Flow Harbour
derives its strategic importance from its peripheral
location at the Northern edge of the UK, but Orkney
is linked to the main Scottish and UK cities by
frequent daily air services and also benefits from
a range of ferry services to near and distant destinations.
Scapa
Flow harbour is strategically located at the confluence
of the Atlantic and the North Sea. The Pentland
Firth, which separates Orkney from the UK mainland
is a major shipping channel for vessels linking
Northern European ports to global destinations.
