Space for local and visiting boatowners in the marina section of St Sampson’s harbour would be greatly expanded under the plans being promoted by the Guernsey Development Agency.
The installation of an offshore multi-buoy mooring system for fuel tankers to offload fuel – including additional pipework from the buoy to the newly-installed fuel tanks at Longue Hougue – would mean commercial vessels currently needing to enter the marina would not need to do so, thereby generating more space for local and visiting leisure boats.
Commercial vessels would be able to moor at a new commercial mooring and quay just outside the new breakwater on the northern edge of Longue Hougue.
The new facility would be used for the loading and offloading of sand, aggregate and scrap, with dust creation caused by industrial movements from cranes and other machinery out of the way of the new homes at Griffith’s Yard.
GDA chairman Peter Watson said the delivery of fuel to the new offshore buoy seemed ‘perfectly feasible’ according to the GDA’s research into costings.
However, he said, until a second interconnector to France was installed, which was likely to be still six to eight years away at the earliest, fuel boats would have to keep accessing the marina because of the need for heavy fuel oil from the power station.
‘We can’t get rid of the boats coming in here for probably eight to 10 years,’ he said.
‘We’re trying to build a much bigger marina but can’t do that until the ships stop coming in.’
Should the plans eventually come to fruition, he said large commercial boats would not be able to enter the marina as they would not be able to stop fast enough, but added St Sampson’s harbour was ‘not a very good’ port for them to go into anyway, due to its size.
In terms of the type of visitors the marina would attract and ultimately make income from, Mr Watson said the GDA was looking at non-residents who owned small superyachts between 24 and 40 metres long.
‘That’s how Jersey has paid for its marina, hopefully we will get people flying in, coming down for three or four days, and sailing around the lovely waters off Guernsey.’
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