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When CEO and Harbourmaster at Ullapool Harbour Trust, Kevin Peach, was looking for a versatile loading machine, the Manitou MRT1850 Rotary was the perfect solution thanks to its ability to get close to the lifting area and, once positioned with the stabiliser legs deployed, it can easily lift loads in complete safety. Ullapool Harbour attracts an increasing variety of vessels including passenger and freight ferries, fishing vessels, cruise ships, Tall Ships and pleasure craft, most of which have some requirement for handling. Larger vessels require palletised loads to be handled efficiently, safely and undamaged and the precise handling and rotational capability of the MRT is ideally suited to the task.
The true potential for the MRT1850 is only beginning to be appreciated by Ullapool Harbour as its ability to tackle a variety of diverse jobs including carrying out essential harbour maintenance duties at height and also ‘over the side’ harbour wall work, handling trawler netting and sails from yacht masts, positioning 20 foot empty containers (weight 2,200kg) and handling frozen fish blocks. The MRT1850’s Rotary’s capabilities are increasingly evident as the local marine community, harbour staff and other harbour users begin to appreciate its capability and performance. The nett result is a cost saving to the Harbour as crane hire is an increasingly rare requirement.
The MRT 1850 was supplied by local Manitou dealer, G. M. Leitch of Inverness and is fully equipped with a selection of front end attachments to maximise utilisation including a 5 tonne winch, an extendible platform, pallet forks, bucket, lifting hook. An optional extra wide carriage is fitted for enhanced load handling.
Manitou MRT1850
Eight harbour operators have been fully trained and certificated to operate the MRT1850. This is important as it gives the Harbour the flexibility to ensure that all loads are handled on a prompt, efficient and safe basis with minimum delay.
Latest developments at Ullapool Harbour include a 33 metre extension to the ferry berthing pier to coincide with the arrival of the new Ullapool to Stornoway ferry. The MV Loch Seaforth is a 116 metre roll-on roll-off ferry capable of transporting 700 passengers and 143 cars or 20 commercial vehicles. The ferry terminal building is undergoing a second storey extension to accommodate the new Passenger Access system.
Ullapool Harbour Overview:
Ullapool Harbour is situated in the sheltered waters of Loch Broom. A natural harbour, it offers good protection from the open waters of the Minch.
The harbour area covers 26 square miles, providing deep water anchorage for large vessels such as cruise liners and drill ships.
The harbour supports a local inshore shellfish fleet of prawn creel and trawl fishermen all year round, combined with seasonal landings of crabs, lobsters and scallops. Whitefish landings are seasonal and include cod, hake, monkfish and haddock with total fish and shellfish landings at Ullapool representing £15 million per annum.
The harbour has supported the fish farm industry for many years, initially with the transfer of feedstuffs and more recently with the transhipping of live salmon smolts from shore sites via purpose built tank ships to west coast sea farms. Tube ice is manufactured on site also.
New business for the harbour authority is the export of timber and aggregates and an increasing number of tourist passengers are arriving at Ullapool from cruise ships.
Harbourmaster Kevin Peach concludes: “ A number of years ago we replaced a tractor loader with a Manitou 14 metre telehandler (MT1440) and noticed the benefits immediately. The logical step up was to an 18 metre rotary and the new MRT1850 represents the latest technology for a rapidly developing harbour business.”