The Noble Lloyd Noble is discharged - September 2016

The worlds largest jack-up oil rig visited the Cromarty Firth in September 2016 and was discharged for taking on supplies before being sent to work in the Mariner Field.

First oil is expected to be produced from Mariner in 2018.

The pre-drilling campaign is expected to support about 500 jobs in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

Mariner, which lies about 93 miles (150km) east of Shetland, is one of the largest projects currently under development in the UKCS.

The heavy oil field has reserves estimated at more than 250 million barrels of oil, with an average plateau production of about 55,000 barrels per day.

Two giants dock at Invergordon

In January 2018 the two monster crane ships from Seaways Heavy Lift, Oleg Strashnov and Stanislav Yudin docked at Invergordon in the Cromarty Firth. Imagery taken with full permissions from the Port of Cromarty Firth.

The Oleg Strashnov is a unique hull shape and is outfitted with the latest technology. Its 5,000 tonnes revolving crane has a main hook lifting height of 102m. There are 800 tonnes and 200 tonnes auxiliary hooks and a 30 tonnes trolley hoist.

The crane vessel Stanislav Yudin has a 2,500 tonnes revolving crane, a 500 tonnes auxiliary hook and a 30 tonnes trolley hoist. With 78.4 m on the main hook and 100.8 m on the auxiliary, the Stanislav Yudin is ideal for a broad range of offshore installation tasks.

Crane ships Oleg Strashnov and Stanislav Yudin

Edinburgh, November 2017

Edinburgh is Scotland's compact, hilly capital. It has a medieval Old Town and elegant Georgian New Town with gardens and neoclassical buildings. Looming over the city is Edinburgh Castle, home to Scotland’s crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish rulers. Arthur’s Seat is an imposing peak in Holyrood Park with sweeping views, and Calton Hill is topped with monuments and memorials.

We were lucky enough to get to film right in the centre of the Capital with assistance from Edinburgh Airport, Police Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland.

Edinburgh_dusk_November_2017 (16 of 17).jpg

Edinburgh_dusk_November_2017 (11 of 17).jpg

Edinburgh_dusk_November_2017 (1 of 17).jpg

Liberty Aluminium - Fort William, August 2017.

Liberty’s Aluminium division owns and operates the only remaining aluminium smelter in the UK – Liberty British Aluminium.

Based at Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, the smelting facilities are powered by two neighbouring hydro-electric stations and a complex of on-site bio-diesel units, owned and managed by Liberty’s sister company SIMEC. This combination of renewable energy sources makes the site one of the greenest metal production plants in the country.

ROAVR | UAS were commissioned by Tigershark TV to capture aerials for a forthcoming corporate video.

Cromarty Firth - 'Deep Energy', October 2017

Constructed in 2013, the Deep Energy is one of the largest pipelay vessels ever built.

She has the capacity to install rigid pipe, flexible pipe and umbilicals in water depths up to 3,000 m via the reel-lay method.

With a fast transit speed of 19.5 knots, high product storage capacity and an abandonment and recovery system rated to 500 Te, she can operate on North Sea and on Intercontinental projects.

Here she is spooling on pipe at Technip's Evanston Spool Base. The Cromarty road crossing can clearly be seen in the background.

Yankee Pier - Dalmore, October 2017

During WW1 the American Navy took over Dalmore Distillery and used it as a mine base.

The so-called ‘Yankee Pier’ still juts out into the firth. In the 1930s the RAF’s presence grew.

Alness became a training base for flying boats. In 1938 228 Squadron with Saro Londons and Stranraers came to the firth from Pembroke Dock and this was followed in October 1939 by 210 Squadron of Sunderlands and Catalina Flying boats.

By 1941 4C OUT was fully established at Alness with the officers based at Dalmore House and the ’tech site’ and repair and maintenance area at Alness Point becoming a very busy strategic point for training and North Sea surveillance. Short Sunderlands had a crew of 13 and by 1942 the OUT was producing 22 trained crews a month.

Yankee Pier looking toward Nigg Energy Port.

BW Catcher - October 2017

In mid-October the brand new FPSO vessel BW Catcher entered Cromarty Firth to dock at Nigg Energy Port with the assistance of Global Group before deployment to the North Sea.

Upon arrival in the North Sea, BW Catcher will start a seven-year fixed term contract, with extension options of up to 18 years, with Premier Oil.

Based on a field life of 10 years, the contract value is USD 2.3 billion including FPSO charter rate and opex, the company said.

“The BW Catcher has been completed on time and within budget, and we are especially pleased with the good HSE performance during the construction project. We have worked over 11 million man hours without a lost time injury and in total around 19 million man hours. The FPSO is now underway to the North Sea for hook-up at the Catcher field, and with first oil scheduled later this year,” said Carl K. Arnet, the CEO of BW Offshore.

BW Catcher has an oil storage capacity of 650,000 barrels and a processing capacity of 60,000 barrels per day. The FPSO has a design life of 20 years of uninterrupted operations, and will be moored using a submerged turret production system.

Nigg Energy Port is owned and operated by the Global Energy Group.

CATCHER is 241m length overall and has a beam of 50m. Her gross tonnage is 91586 tons

Oil rigs of the Cromarty Firth - October 2017

Looking over the Cromarty Firth which has in the past had 17 rigs stacked.

These rigs need periodic surveys and they come in and get work done – major maintenance or to install client-specific equipment top-side – before going back out to drill.

There are six ‘hot-stacked’ which are on ‘warm standby’, ready to go with 60 onboard, and another six ‘cold-stacked’, empty.

According to the BBC in August 2017 two men boarded a cold stacked rig:

'The pair, who describe themselves as "urban explorers", took a dinghy to the Ocean Princess, one of several offshore structures in the Cromarty Firth.

Police Scotland said it was aware of the incident and has begun an investigation.

The platform's owner, Diamond Offshore, confirmed an incident took place.

The Cromarty Firth Port Authority has declined to comment.

The incident is understood to have happened at the weekend and the men were thought to have spent a night onboard.'

Steven's Croft Power Station - October 2017

Steven's Croft is a wood fired (biomass) power station near Lockerbie in Scotland. It started energy production in 2008. It is operated by EON and is the largest biomass power station in the UK. It produces 44 MW of electricity, and burns 60% waste from timber production, 20% coppiced wood, and 20% recycled fibre.

A.W. Jenkinson acquired land at the Steven’s Croft Development Area just off the M74 at Lockerbie in the year 2000. At the time the adjacent site was occupied by James Jones Sawmills and Forest Garden. These two large sawmilling businesses were already associated with A.W. Jenkinson, making the location an ideal choice for development in support of the Scottish timber industry.

In 2005 Powergen (now E.ON) took control of a section of the Lockerbie site for the construction by Siemens of a revolutionary 44 Megawatt CO2-neutral biomass power station. Alongside the power station there is now a large-scale log yard and round wood chipping building, where new material is combined with pre-chipped biomass to achieve a final blend that meets the ideal specification to feed the station. The chipping building feeds directly into the power plant via an overhead conveyor.

A.W. Jenkinson, which is responsible for supplying fuel to the site, has built a close working relationship with E.ON; a key factor in achieving maximum efficiency from the new facility. Steven’s Croft has become a lynch pin in A.W. Jenkinson’s Scottish operations, collecting material from most of the sawmills in Scotland, as well as servicing other major biomass and panelboard customers. The transport department makes extensive use of local drivers, providing a good source of employment for the Dumfries and Galloway area.