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OFFICIAL OPENING OF MODERNISED LIGHTHOUSE DEPOT IN OBAN
On Monday 10 December 2001, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will officially open the Northern Lighthouse Board's modernised Depot in Oban. The £3.2million contract to modernise the Depot started in January of this year. The work is being carried out by RJ McLeod, of Glasgow and Dingwall, and Mott MacDonald of Glasgow have acted as Consultants for the project.
The modernisation involved:-
· the construction of a new building to accommodate buoy refurbishment, storage and engineering workshop functions:
· infill works to extend the surface area of the Board's pier and hardstanding:
· refurbishment of an existing building to provide offices and welfare facilities:
· improvements to the access arrangements and the junction with Gallanach Road.The Depot is the base port for MV PHAROS, the Board's main operations vessel which supplies equipment and materials to lighthouses, ferries maintenance and survey crews to lighthouses, and retrieves and replaces buoys to and from Oban for refurbishment. It is also the base for the Board's helicopter operations on the West Coast of Scotland. The Board's second vessel MV POLE STAR also uses Oban Depot from time to time, although her base port is Stromness in Orkney.
The Board employs eleven staff at the Depot, and a sizeable proportion of the crews of MV PHAROS and MV POLE STAR are also from the Oban area.
James Taylor, Chief Executive of the Northern Lighthouse Board said "The new facilities at this modern Depot will greatly improve the Board's workings on the West Coast of Scotland. The new purpose-built buoy refurbishment, storage and engineering facilities will streamline our operations and provide a much safer working environment for our staff. The Depot was originally built nearly 100 years ago and had changed little over the years, although our work practises and health & safety legislation have changed beyond all recognition. The Board's objective is to provide a reliable, low-maintenance and cost-effective network of aids to navigation, backed by a safe, efficient, economic and professional support organisation. We also seek to help in protecting the Scottish environment. As part of that effort we have an ongoing programme for marine Aids to Navigation in Scottish waters. For example, we are removing gas and its associated dangers in handling and storing from all lighthouses by converting to renewable energy - solar-electric or wind power, or mains electricity where available. This programme of conversion has been running for a number of years - all our navigation buoys are already converted to solar-electric power - and will complete in 2004. The vast bulk of this work involves Oban Depot.
Since 1997, we have been empowered in law to exploit any spare capacity commercially. These up-to-the minute facilities at Oban will allow us to deploy the expertise, commitment and spirit of service on which the Northern Lighthouse Board's reputation is based, to others on a contractual basis".
Her Royal Highness is Patron of the Northern Lighthouse Board and routinely spends time on the Board's vessels seeing the work that they do.
Notes to the Editor· The Northern Lighthouse Board operates under statute - the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 - and is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man.
· The Board currently operates: 201 Lighthouses, 131 Buoys, 41 Beacons, 3 Differential Global Positioning System Stations, 22 Radar Beacons and 14 Fog Signals.
· The Northern Lighthouse Board is funded entirely from the General Lighthouse Fund, sourced by "Light Dues", a levy paid by shipping. The Board receives no direct funding from the Exchequer or taxpayer.
· The other General Lighthouse Authorities are the Commissioners of Irish Lights (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and Trinity House Lighthouse Service (England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar).
· Attached: Background note on the Northern Lighthouse Board
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
Fixed camera positions will be given to cover the opening ceremony and departure from the new building. There are no parking facilities in the vicinity of the Depot (nearest parking is next to the Bowling Alley "Champions" in Shore Street).For more information contact:
Lorna Hunter, Information Officer
Tel 0131 473 3100
Fax 0131 220 2093