Bruichladdich Pier - a White Elephant - Explored!
The pier was extended in the 2006-08 period to allow the routine docking of just one ship. The development was prompted by a threat from Shell UK to stop delivering heavy fuel oil by road/ferry to the Islay distilleries. It faced significant, if ultimately futile, local opposition on environmental grounds and also because the structure offered no benefit to the wider local community - particularly fishing boats and leisure craft.
The tanker for which it was built, Keewhit, can only deliver loads when a suitable weather window coincides with a high tide, and even then it is only able to dock carrying around 600 tons of fuel, which is way below its actual capacity. The irony of the situation is that Argyll and Bute Council were essentially blackmailed into providing the pier extension on the grounds that unless they did so, Shell would stop fuel deliveries to the island. The threat panicked the Council (supported by many of the distilleries) into rushing through this poorly-thought-out and incompetently-implemented pier extension which is now of little use to anyone. - from Islay Blog, 2008.
The pier was some 500m from our accommodation and totally unused by boats during our short visit.
Bruichladdich Pier - a White Elephant - Explored!
The pier was extended in the 2006-08 period to allow the routine docking of just one ship. The development was prompted by a threat from Shell UK to stop delivering heavy fuel oil by road/ferry to the Islay distilleries. It faced significant, if ultimately futile, local opposition on environmental grounds and also because the structure offered no benefit to the wider local community - particularly fishing boats and leisure craft.
The tanker for which it was built, Keewhit, can only deliver loads when a suitable weather window coincides with a high tide, and even then it is only able to dock carrying around 600 tons of fuel, which is way below its actual capacity. The irony of the situation is that Argyll and Bute Council were essentially blackmailed into providing the pier extension on the grounds that unless they did so, Shell would stop fuel deliveries to the island. The threat panicked the Council (supported by many of the distilleries) into rushing through this poorly-thought-out and incompetently-implemented pier extension which is now of little use to anyone. - from Islay Blog, 2008.
The pier was some 500m from our accommodation and totally unused by boats during our short visit.