Agenda item

To receive a quarterly report from the Harbour Master.

The Harbour Master provided an update on the circulated report. He referred to an invitation extended to Board Members for a tour of the river and the canal to look at the activities and the maintenance challenges faced by the team. He raised a number of matters of note which included:-

·           the Friends of the Exeter Ship Canal have achieved Historic Harbour status with the support of the Exeter Canal and Quay Trust (ECQT). A number of forthcoming events have been planned on the Quay, including a Sea Shanty Festival with visiting vintage vessels on the 11^th September 2022. The ECQT have been supportive of the team’s activities across the Council and have funded the repair of the pontoon in the canal.

·           a survey of the marked channel using a multibeam side scanner showed that the channel had shifted significantly to the east of the chartered positions. A total of eight buoys have now been moved and charts have been updated, including Notices to Mariners to ensure that the marked channel was clear. There was an ongoing maintenance programme of the navigation aids which included lifting, inspecting, repaint and checking and replacing the lights on each of those buoys.

·           their working vessel, the Can Doo cannot be used to reach the buoys south of Buoy 10, and the team would like to charter a moorings vessel, with the necessary Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) vessel  coding. They would to be able to maintain the navigational aids as well as carry out commercial work servicing customers moorings as well.

·           they worked closely with the Exe Estuary Management Partnership, Topsham Ferry and local clubs to make sure everyone was kept informed of any news or events.

·           the aspirations for the Harbour team included achieving a HRO, combining and replacement of their two work vessels, dredging parts of the ship canal and improving the facilities at the buoy store.

The Harbour Master responded to Board Members’ questions:-

·       he had met with a contractor to discuss proposed works for the removal of 5,000 cubic metres of material from the Canal in order to maintain the access to the Canal Basin and Exeter Quay for deep draught vessels. An excavator on a floating pontoon would be required to lift silt from the canal and move to the canal bank to be taken away.

·      environmental and sustainable considerations were taken into account with such work and a similar exercise involved the spoil being laid on an adjacent allotment site as it was free from contaminates.  They would explore the possibility of selling the material or seeking a site on the overflow for the river near the allotments.

·       referencing a comment about the reason for selling the team’s moorings barge to charter a purpose built craft that was both fully Maritime and Coastguard Agency coded and Port Marine Safety Code compliant. This could be chartered on a monthly basis thus negating the need to hire in a contractor to maintain the buoys at sea. The craft would allow the team to carry out all of their responsibilities to service the 52 navigational aids both in the river and out at sea as well as carrying out commercial work servicing moorings.

·       the environmental benefit of combining the open dory type work boat and  small patrol boat as well as investigating an electric motor in place of the petrol engines. They were working with Plymouth University on decarbonisation programmes and the partners of the Exe Estuary Management Partnership on ways to improve their green credentials for the river and canal.

The Chair advised that Board Member, Owen Michaelson was unable to attend the meeting but had requested that a number of comments in relation to the support vessels be shared with the Board, suggesting that any changes should include careful consideration of future use. The Harbour Master confirmed that an MCA compliant coded boat was needed to maintain the buoys in the various locations. He set out the costs of hiring compared with contracting a vessel to carry out their work.

The report was noted.