New manager and new code of practise for busy Oban Bay

THE NEW Oban Bay harbour manager, veteran seaman Paul Jennings, has only been in the job two weeks, but is already making positive changes to the busy port.

Employed on behalf of the community by Caledonian MacBrayne, Paul is now the point of contact for all matters having to do with the bay from the entrance to the Sound of Kerrera, and he will head up the task of establishing Oban Bay as a statutory harbour authority.

‘Since they changed the ferry timetable, the number of ferries running went from 8,000 to 13,000,’ Paul said. ‘Plus another 4,500 vessels are using the pier and south quay. The only harbour in the UK that has more traffic than that is Dover, and it’s all operating through this small bit of water.’

In 2014 a risk assessment of Oban Bay was performed, and even though currently there are two authoritiesCMAL and the Council- none of the bay is officially controlled and there is no one authority to take reports.

‘ We’ve talked to virtually everybody over the last six months that uses this bay, and from that we came up with a revised code of practise,’ Paul said. ‘This includes chart changes that will be put in place, and introduces new speed limits, which is 10 knots outside and six knots inside the harbour area. We also want to put a large vessel channel in the north entrance.

The transport minister saw this assessment and said we needed to establish a statutory harbour authority for the whole of Oban Bay. The work can’t go forward unless someone is on the ground doing it, and that’s my job.’

Paul, who was a navigator in the Royal Navy and operations manager for RNLI, doesn’t have official power until the harbour authority is established, which will take about two years. Meanwhile, he is acting in a coordination role and is the single point of contact for concerns, near misses and incidents in the harbour.

Oban Harbour has launched a website designed to provide practical up to date information to all bay stakeholders and users, as well as provide a procedure for reporting incidents and near misses. The revised code of practise for operating a vessel in Oban goes live on the website March 31. Paul has also kicked off a ‘Be Safe, Be Seen’ campaign for small vessels and kayakers.

‘It’s quite a big move for Oban,’ Paul admitted. ‘I will be getting out on the street to tell people about it and give flyers out. Anyone can come and speak to me with concerns and questions.’

Paul can be contacted directly at 01631 562892 or info@obanharbour. scot. The website is www.obanharbour.scot.