Questions as council unveil plans to outsource dredging work
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DREDGING work will have to be outsourced to ensure Buckie Harbour will be ready to host offshore wind farm maintenance boats, it has emerged.
Members of Moray Council's economic development and infrastructure services heard that in order to accommodate vessels for the Moray West wind farm, the relevant parts of the harbour would have to have a minimum depth of three metres – basin depths currently stand at 2.2m.
The report put before the committee stated: "At Buckie it is proposed to dredge the channel and basins two and three to a level of three metres below chart datum, ready for lease requirements from August 2023.
"This is calculated at 12,783m3. This is a large scale piece of work, specifically related to the requirements of the offshore supply chain for windfarm O&M [Operations and Maintenance] who
have specific depth parameters as part of their contractual arrangements. The O&M contracts are financially generative for the council, and this work forms part of this wider package.
"The scale of work is such that it would be inefficient for the council’s own dredger to undertake the work, and would also divert the vessel away from its core maintenance dredging programme."
Dredging work would also be outsourced at Burghead Harbour in order to re-establish the channel at the facility.
The £2.5 million council-owned dredger MV Selkie has proved controversial since her launch at Buckie in 2016, suffering several technical and staffing difficulties. Questions have frequently been raised as to the amount of work being done by the vessel and her ongoing value for money.
Councillors heard that over 2021-22 the Selkie worked a total of 77 days – all of them servicing the six council-run harbours – or 39 per cent of her total working days (the percentage of the total crewed days where dredging operations are undertaken, rather than maintenance or standing-by for suitable weather conditions). The vessel spent a total of 59 days in maintenance.
Over the course of the year, she removed some 14,120 tonnes from council harbours, up from 11,240 the previous year.
For the third year in a row the Selkie overshot her budget, with costs coming in at £307,795 against a budget of £273,895. Of the additional £34,000 additional expenditure, £10,000 went on additional agency costs, £20,000 on internal fleet recharge and £4000 on additional plant repairs.
The report added: "The planned measurable improvement is to see a reduction in running costs
with a target of being within budget for 2022-23.
"This will be achieved through continued improved maintenance of the vessel which is measured both in running costs and in days the vessel is un-operational due to maintenance as well as a reduction in fuel costs which will be achieved when Selkie is able to berth in Burghead."
Buckie councillor Sonya Warren, who serves on the committee, reiterated concerns that the Selkie was remaining idle for too long during the year.
She said: "The fantastic investment in Buckie by Ocean Winds will revitalise our harbour but we know that a requirement to ensure that investment is a deeper basin for the type of vessels that will be used.
"I am pleased, therefore, that external dredging is being proposed to do that additional work on top of the maintenance dredging that the Selkie is undertaking.
"However, it’s difficult to understand how undertaking this work would be taking the Selkie away from her other duties when she has worked so few days over the course of last year. It's hard to understand the need for buying in external services as last year she only worked 49 days, and was unable to work 62 days due to weather conditions.
"The report actually only accounts for 170 days of the year so it has to be assumed that Selkie sat idle for 195 days.
"I am aware, however, that Brexit and Covid were causing big delays with the supply chain and impacted on many aspects of regular council work and there have been challenges recruiting and retaining crew for the Selkie with agency staff being employed to allow work to be done in our harbours.
"The number of days required for maintenance for the Selkie is a concern as 59 days is the best part of two months. I've asked for a breakdown of scheduled maintenance and unplanned works maintenance work that the Selkie in undertaking in all of Moray's harbours."
Fellow Buckie councillor and Conservative group co-leader Neil McLennan commented: "Buckie Harbour and the Selkie have been long discussed.
"We hope this new administration will be able to listen to all views, appraise options and then progress with something that works for Buckie and the people of Moray.”
Over the last year three council harbours were dredged by the Selkie. Forty-nine days in all were spent at Buckie with 8770 tonnes removed, 20 at Findochty (3700 tonnes) and eight at Burghead (1650 tonnes).
In the year ahead, it is envisaged that dredging will be targeted at the entrance channel and areas around the middle jetty at Findochty, while dredging plans are currently being formulated for Cullen and Hopeman. The report adds that there has been no need identified for a dredging plan for Portknockie Harbour.
