Ships in the Sound

While the Sound of Mull is rarely empty of some sort of passing shipping, for shore-side observers such as The Diary the winter months are usually much less interesting than others.

The working boats cannot take a rest. These include the big bulk carriers that plough their way down to the Glensanda super-quarry and the fish farm supply ships, such as the one above, the Viktoria Lady. She's 53m long and Norwegian. She looks like one of the 'well boats' which carry live fish but she's registered as carrying 'Hazard D' cargoes - perhaps someone can explain this.

We've seen the Harvest Anne, owned by the big land-transport company Fergusson Transport, often enough but this is a much better picture of her as she moves west down Loch Sunart towards the Sound of Mull. She delivers cargoes to fish farms up and down the west coast.

We've had plenty of cargo ships through the Sound in the last few weeks. It may be that the poor weather persuades them to take a route through these calmer waters.

Windstar (above) is a 2,700dwt Norwegian-registered cargo ship which passed us at the beginning of December. Her owners are Swedish and she carries general cargoes. The Diary doesn't want to be unkind, but the designers of ships like this must put 'good looks' a long way down their list of design priorities.

This is the 4,175dwt Grimm, a German cargo ship which is noticeable for her unusual design. She lacks the standard superstructure aft which houses crew accommodation as well as the bridge. Instead she has the bridge lifted on stalks. The design is interesting as it should reduce windage. Built in 1992, her home port is Hamburg.

Global 1 is Lithuanian, of 2,451wt and 88m length, built in 2000, and has her home port as Klaipeda. She's another general cargo ship and the first Lithuanian ship we've seen. She's very comparable to Windstar but so much better looking - and her owners have, at least, chosen a cheerful colour to paint her hull.

It always seems sad when owners give their ships unattractive names. In the old days there was a tradition that ships were female and carried women's names. As a ships' agent in East Africa, The Diary's father dealt with many shipping lines and had some sympathy for those which, like the Clan Line, named their boats after Scottish clans, or Harrisons, whose ships all carried the names of careers such as Architect or Author. This little cargo ship is the Flinterbaltica, a Dutch-registered ship of 3,400dwt built in 2004.

Fishing boats move up and down our waters whatever the time of year and are always interesting to watch. This compact black and white boat, which we've seen before, is the Atlantic Quest, SO985, a Danish-built twin-rigged trawler registered in Sligo; her home port is Killybegs.

Lastly, in these difficult days, some trawlers have to find other ways than fishing to earn their owners a crust. This one is pictured towing fish farm nets down the Sound. It seems a bit sad seeing a fishing boat reduced to such a menial task but it's a reflection on the dire state of the Scottish fishing industry.