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.

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

Cromarty - October 2017

Cromarty is a seaport on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth, 5 miles seaward from Invergordon on the opposite coast. Until 1890 it was the county town of the former county of Cromartyshire.

The town grew around its port, formerly used by ferries, to export locally-grown hemp fibre, and by trawlers trawling for herrings. The port was a British naval base during the First World War and HMS Natal blew up close by on 30 December 1915 with heavy loss of life.

The port was home to Britain's smallest vehicle ferry, the Cromarty Rose, running across the Firth to Nigg. The entrance to the Cromarty Firth is guarded by the Souters, two large cliffs that can be seen for many miles away and were previously fortified.