Major improvements at Shetland's main port have paid dividends with increased traffic in all areas apart from cruise ship activity.
The oil and gas industry in particular took full advantage of Lerwick Harbour's expanded deep-water infrastructure, which helped attract a growing number of vessels in 2013.
Lerwick Port Authority reported that the number of oil-related vessels calling jumped 9.6% to 683, compared to 2012, with the tonnage up 28% to 3.8 million gross tonnes and the cargo handled by 36% to 189,090 tonnes.
Meanwhile there was a total of 5416 vessel arrivals last year, up 4.9%, with the tonnage of all ships ahead by 5.5% to 13.2m gross tonnes.
Use of the port by larger vessels was demonstrated by pilotage movements, up 7.6% to 1502, with 10.2 million gross tonnes of vessels piloted, up 5.3%. Fish landings totalled 66,745 tonnes, valued at £62.5m, up 8.6% on volume and 23% on value, while passengers on ferries between Lerwick and Orkney and Aberdeen increased 7% to 133,028 in 2013.
The only blot on the landscape was that cruise passenger numbers decreased - by 29% to 26,684 - resulting in a minor reduction of 0.85% in total passenger numbers to 160,445.
Sandra Laurenson, Lerwick Port Authority's chief executive, said this was to due to "one-off factors relating to specific operators". "Bookings for this year indicated a strong recovery, with around 46,000 passengers expected," she said.
"In a very busy year, our investment in enhanced facilities again paid off. On top of regular traffic, the port handled various projects demonstrating the capacity of the deep-water harbour, including storing and transhipping modules weighing up to 450 tonnes for the Shetland Gas Plant and accommodating several floatels housing construction workers."
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