Wednesday 15 June 2011

Ships in the Sound

With the coming of summer, the shipping traffic in the Sound of Mull increases and is much more varied. Cruise ships, such as the Lauren L, above, become more common, many of them stopping in Tobermory for a few hours.

The Lauren L is at the luxury end of the cruise market, a 'yacht' which can be hired for a mere €695,000 (£611,000) per week. But you can take along a few friends: she has ten suites and equipment which includes spas, jacuzzis, saunas, dive equipment, jet skis and bananas, and the crew includes bodyguards. If you'd like to hire her, the necessary website is here. And life on board can be quite exciting: the ship was involved in a dramatic rescue in Loch Linnhe a few weeks ago, details here.

From the sublime to the down-to-Earth. This is the sd Omagh, a Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service fleet tender more commonly seen in Clyde waters, but pictured here off Tobermory. The sd stands for Serco Denhelm, who have a 15-year contract to provide the Royal Navy with fleet tender services

Leaving the western entry into the Sound of Mull, and pictured from the summit of Druim na Gearr Leacainn high above Ormsaigbeg is the CSL Thames, outbound from the superquarry at Glensander. This self-loading bulk carrier was built in 2010, and has a gross tonnage of 19,500t and is 29,800dwt.

On an infinitely smaller scale, this is the Emma C, operated from and registered in Mallaig. She too was built in 2010, but earns her bread and butter servicing the fish farming industry. She may be small, but she's a tough little workboat - more details here.

In complete contrast, the Eda Frandsen is a 60-year old gaff cutter which, like the Lauren L, is available for charter. With eight double cabins she's on a rather smaller scale, but at £800 per berth for six nights sailing, very much more affordable - more details about her here.

A couple of the photographs show yachts passing. We're coming towards the height of the yachting season here, but some boats are around all year, whatever the weather. This sturdy little boat is the Harvest Moon OB141, a prawn trawler based in Oban. She's been working up and down the Sound opposite Kilchoan for some days.

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