Oscar Wilde in flames.

The ferry Oscar Wilde suffered a fire at sea off Falmouth late on Tuesday evening. As there were no passengers aboard the crew were able to cope with the fire with the help of local emergency services that included the SAR team from nearby Air Station, Culdrose.

Wrap star.

Local wrap man Edwin binds the mornings monk mountain with clingfilm......
in Stevenson's cold store there is a seemingly endless supply of cuttles to deal with.....
as blackened boxes fill the quay again.....
evidence of the 'black-hand' gang abound.....
it took a fair weight to do this amount of damage to the hatch cover and coaming......
PH7 in to land today......
in Dock for the first time this year and now under its own management, Scillonian III.

Hatherleigh finds a new home

The ex-side trawler Hatherleigh, an infrequent Newlyn visitor, has found new owners and a new home in Scarborough. She is now skippered by Terry Bunker, a familiar face in the South West having fished from Plymouth for many years.

The future starts here!

With decisions on the future of the harbour almost at a standstill while the present commissioners are unable to progress the adoption of the Harbour Revision Order - good news at last!

In what may well be looked back on in years to come as a pivotal moment in Newlyn's history, local Lib Dem MP Andrew George has received an assurance from Paul Clark MP, Transport Minister from the Department of Transport that a new set of Commissioners will be in place by April the 1st at the latest, possibly sooner.

Specifically, the following points have been made clear to the local MP with immediate effect:

1. Adverts for the new commissioners will be published within the next 2-3 weeks.(check the Cornishman this Thursday)

2. A panel will be drawn up to interview applicants as soon as possible.

3. The HRO will be authorised by the Head of the Port Division in the Department for Transport during the same period. No Parliamentary procedure is required.

4. The old Harbour Commission will be dissolved and the new Harbour Commission created by the middle of March 2010 and by Easter (i.e. 1st April) 2010 at the latest.

Andrew George has been assured that if there are any threats to this time frame he will be told immediately.

He was also informed that the timetable will not adversely influence the consideration of the EFF application to the MFA which will be considered on 17th February. A letter of comfort/reassurance has been sent by the Department for Transport to the MFA in respect of their concerns about “governance”.

With the economy showing signs of recovery, a general election imminent, now is the time to see every opportunity taken for the future of the port.

For anyone who has been unhappy with the way things have been going (or not) now comes the chance to be heard.

Watch out, watch out, there's a thief about!

Just like any other port there are always a few dodgy characters lurking about, so it pays to be vigilant when the villains strike more than once! In recent weeks a number of local boats have been targeted on several occasions by thieves - relieving the vessels of electronics, tools and other small items of kit. The installation of video surveillance in the form of a cheap web cam could help prevent such attacks - and provide a window onto the harbour for web viewers all over the world.

Anyone overlooking the Old Quay side of the harbour who would be willing to host such a web cam contact Through the Gaps

She's the biggest in the world and has just passed Land's End.

The huge Dutch freezer trawler Annelies Anika spotted on the AIS as she passes down the Longships lighthouse on her way to Beverwijk, Holland. She is the world's biggest factory ship. She was of course built originally as SO914, the Atlantic Dawn for Kevin McHugh to replace the Veronica. Although based at Killybegs she was built to fish anywhere in the world.

Cool blue skies.

The Liberian registered tanker Nevaska Lady rides at anchor in Mount's Bay......
full moon over Newlyn on the biggest tide of the year......
and it's cold,crisp and clear......
astern of the Little Waters in still waters......
tons of black cuttles leave their mark in the auction hall.......
as they are sorted into harbour boxes......
even at this time of year the beamers can pick up the odd bag of scallops.....
three beamers and a couple of inshore boats landed to the market this morning.