The Port of Dundee is building momentum in its aims to attract more cruise visits and renewables work.
That’s the view of Forth Ports’ newly appointed regional director for Scotland Derek Knox.
Mr Knox, who started his career at the Port of Dundee more than 20 years ago, said work on the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm has shown the industry what is possible in Dundee.
Dundee has been an assembly site for the turbine towers and a loading harbour for them going out to the North Sea.
Mr Knox said the port was in talks with developers of several other renewables projects about future work.
He said: “The renewables sector is one of the main areas of focus for the port, where a significant infrastructure investment has been made.
“NnG is coming towards its conclusion and the site will be used by the Inch Cape offshore wind farm towards the end of next year. This will further build our reputation.
“A lot of the offshore wind developments are located around the east coast. We’ve got touch points with a number of developers and are looking to be part of various tendering processes.”
More cruise visits to Dundee?
Mr Knox also anticipates the number of cruises calling in Dundee will continue to increase. There were 14 visits in 2023 and 16 last year.
He said Dundee was making “steady progress” on attracting vessels and feels the Eden Project will give the city even more appeal for tourists.
“Our ambitions on this front continue to grow,” he said.
“Scotland as a whole continues to be quite an attractive proposition for cruise liners.
“We anticipate Dundee having more success as it’s a city port with good public transport links.”
Fife ports’ plans
He said Forth Ports’ Fife ports were also performing well.
He said the focus at Rosyth will be continuing the development of the agricultural hub, which was a £20 million investment in 2019.
“Rosyth is capable of handling half a million tonnes of agricultural products a year. We are very much looking at how we can develop that further and expand the site.
“We also continue to explore where there are opportunities to reinstate a ferry service. There used to be a connection with Zeebrugge and Dunkirk is a destination being explored.”
Methil and Burntisland ports’ cargo is based around construction products, such as timber. Mr Knox said there were longer-term opportunities in relation to offshore wind.
Kirkcaldy Port is used by Carr’s Flour Mill and transports between 70,000 and 100,000 tonnes of wheat a year.
Forth Ports has also promoted former Port of Dundee manager David Webster from commercial director to regional director for the Port of Tilbury.
Mr Webster and Mr Knox will join the group’s executive board with immediate effect and take up their new roles from March 31.
Conversation