#PortAward - The Scottish south-west Port of Ayr, (south of Troon, see ferry report) part of the large UK ports owned group, ABP, won the top accolade at this year’s company chairman’s awards, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The award is the ‘Oscars’ for staff of the ABP (Associated British Ports), which operates 21 ports across Scotland, England and Wales. Among cargoes handled are aggregates, animal feed, salt, sand and forest products. In this trade alone around 200,000 tonnes are handled annually.

An example of a general cargoship using the Ayrshire port is shown in the above photo of Wilson Gdynia (2,506grt) operated by Norwegian based Wilson Group. The vessel berthed at North Quay, on the River Ayr. A fleetmate, Wilson Dublin (2,452grt) became the largest ship to dock in Dingle Harbour, where it loaded sandstone from west Kerry last year for use in UK roads construction.

The Port of Ayr not only won the Customer Service Award in the UK-wide port network, but took the Group Award as well, the biggest honour at the ceremony.

The group were nominated by port manager Stuart Cresswell who praised his team for their focus on continuing operational improvement and, in particular, for their service to fertiliser specialist Yara.

Yara operates from seven locations in the UK, including the Port of Ayr which it ranked as its top port in 2015 in terms of customer service. Simon Barley, Supply Chain Operations Manager for Yara UK and Ireland, said: “Ayr comes out on top as Yara’s best import terminal in the UK.