Aberdeen Harbour, rebranded as the Port of Aberdeen in 2022, is a sea port located in the city of Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland. The port was first established in 1136 and has been continually redeveloped over the centuries to provide a base for significant fishing and ship building industries. Since the 1970s it has provided support to the offshore oil and gas industry operating in the North Sea and it is the main commercial port in the north east of Scotland.
The Port of Aberdeen is the largest port in Scotland (by berthage and area) and the busiest port via vessel visits in Scotland also.
In 2023, the Port of Aberdeen opened South Harbour. This £420 million extension added 1.5km of deep water berthage to support cruise ships, cargo vessels and the Offshore wind sector.
Port of Aberdeen is the UK's oldest business, since 1136.
History 12th to 16th century
A port has existed at Aberdeen since at least the 12th century, with the first recorded reference being from 1136, when King David I of Scotland permitted the Bishops of Aberdeen the right to charge a tithe on all vessels visiting the port. Located on the estuary of the River Dee, the area initially comprised sandbanks and waterlogged marshes. At that time the river entered the area from the south west on a northerly course before turning eastwards towards the sea, featuring a series of channels and islets (known locally as 'inches'). The channels were also fed by the Den Burn, a tributary of the Dee, which flowed from the north east. The port was located on the northern most channel, immediately to the south of the town. It is thought that these channels, sandbanks and islets changed position over time, as maps dating from 1661 and 1773 show noticeably different arrangements.
The area experienced a number of issues which could make navigation into the port difficult. Coastal currents and northerly winds would often allow a sandbank to form at the mouth of the river, leaving a water depth of only a few feet. The tidal area did not have any protection from easterly storms, and the channel leading to the town was shallow and obstructed. The first known improvements to address these issues are recorded in a charter dating from 1281, which indicates that a bulwark ran southwards from the bottom of Shiprow. It is thought that this may be the 'Old Pier' which appears on a 1773 plan of Aberdeen. Later in 1339, records mention the 'quay of Aberdeen', which was repaired in 1453 and either repaired or rebuilt during 1484.
The Shore Porters Society, one of the UK's oldest companies, was created to service the harbour in 1498. It was established as a co-operative to provide transportation of goods to the centre of Aberdeen for a fixed rate.
The establishment of trade links with ports in Scandinavia and the Baltic states resulted in improvements being made at the port during the Tudor period. This included the installation of beacons at the entrance to the harbour, the clearance of obstructions from the channel and more repairs to the quayside in 1512 and 1526. The work of 1526 specified cut stone, suggesting that the earlier quay may have been constructed from rough drystone masonry and timber. The port's first cargo-handling crane was erected in 1582. During 1595 King James VI issued a charter to raise funding for improvements, with considerable work thereafter being undertaken, including repair of the bulwark, pier, shore and harbour.
In an attempt to address the problem of the sandbank, a bulwark known as the 'South Pier' was constructed in 1609 on the south side of the harbour entrance. It was formed from a drystone construction with timber stakes and positioned so that it would deflect the current of the river northwards, washing away the sandbank. However, the bank continued to cause problems, with water backing up and flowing over the quayside during floods.
17th and 18th century
A project to extend the quay downstream commenced in 1623, finally being completed in 1659, after being delayed by the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The extension of the quay allowed former tidal ground to the north to be reclaimed from the sea and put to agricultural use.
A 1661 account and plan of Aberdeen by James Gordon, indicates that the quayside extended from Shiprow within the town, eastwards towards what was known as Futty, now the Queen's Links area between Waterloo Quay and Aberdeen Beach. Near the mouth of the Dee, was Pockraw, a small fishing harbour, separate from the main port. Gordon also recorded a weigh-house located near Shiprow, which had been built in the early 1630s. Meanwhile, a fishing pier was constructed between 1611 and 1612 at Torry, Aberdeen's southern neighbour across the River Dee.
The layout of the modern harbour, as it largely remains today, can be traced back to around 1770, when planning for extensive development begun. Civil engineer John Smeaton oversaw the construction of a breakwater (which became known as the North Pier) between 1775 and 1781 at Sandness (now known as Footdee or locally as ). The purpose of the breakwater was to prevent sand creating a bar at the harbour entrance and to direct the flow of deposits from the River Dee into the tidal current and away from the harbour. The pier was constructed from rubble masonry with ashlar facing block and was long, wide and high above the high-water level. The works were overseen by the harbour's engineer John Gwyn and cost £16,000. In 1789, it was found necessary to narrow the navigation-channel to limit waves generated by the presence of the new north pier, with it being considered that the pier had been sited too far to the north. The Abercrombie Jetty (also known as the 'Catch Pier') was therefore constructed.
19th century
Civil engineer Thomas Telford recommended several improvements to the harbour in 1802. This included work to extend the North Pier to to a point which terminated amongst rocks which had resulted in at least five shipwrecks. Work to the pier was completed in 1816 at a cost of £16,000. Improvements also involved the construction of a wet dock and spillway, and the diversion of the River Dee, all overseen by resident harbour engineer John Gibb. With the exception of the wet dock (of which only the quay-walls had been constructed), all these works were recorded as being complete by 1829. During the early 19th century, other major projects included the construction of wharfs along the length of Waterloo and Regent Quays and the creation of what at the time was called the South Breakwater, but now known as the Inner or Old South Breakwater. It extended from the south shore of the mouth of the River Dee and was completed between 1812 and 1815.
With the exception of dredging, few improvements were undertaken between 1816 and 1829. More extensive works were undertaken between 1840 and 1846, under the direction of resident engineer James Abernethy. This included widening and deepening of the harbour, the dredging of sand-banks at the harbour entrance and removal of part of Abercromby's Jetty. During this period of new quayside was constructed. At this point in time navigation into the harbour was difficult, particularly for long steamships, as it was necessary to make a turn of almost 90 degrees between Pockra jetty and the point of the 'inch' opposite.
In 1833 Girdle Ness lighthouse was built on the headland just to the south of the harbour entrance. With the width of the entrance to the navigation channel restricted by the construction of the North Pier and South Breakwater, Abernethy considered it necessary to provide a navigational aid to assist vessels entering the harbour. As a solution, a pair of leading lights were constructed in Torry on the south shore of the River Dee. They were completed in 1842 and took the form of two cast iron tapering, octagonal-plan towers around . Prior to the 19th century, Aberdeen's fishing industry was relatively small compared to other settlements in the north east of Scotland (such as Peterhead) and had focused largely on river and salmon fishing. The traditional fishing fleets of Torry and Footdee also used line-fishing to catch white fish in the North Sea. In 1835, a herring fishing station was set up at the harbour, with Aberdeen's herring fleet bringing significant prosperity to the city. More efficient methods of fishing were introduced, with nets rather than lines being used to take advantage of herring shoals. A railway line to Aberdeen was opened in 1850, which allowed overnight fish trains to operate from the city to Billingsgate Fish Market in London.
One of the most important changes during the harbour's history took place between 1843 and 1848, when the docks onto which the town's quaysides fronted were finally enclosed to create the Victoria Dock, a wet-dock of . Replacing Wellington Quay and Lime Quay, the scheme was based on Telford's original proposals and were developed by James Abernethy with help from engineers James Walker and Alexander Gibb. The dock was divided into two parts, separated by the Regent swinging bridge. There was a larger dock to the east and smaller dock to the west, the latter corresponding with what is now known as the Upper Dock. The Victoria Dock had a depth of and could accommodate 300 vessels. It featured two iron entrance-lock gates, and wide, one for vessels and the other operating as a tide gate. The northern quayside was named Waterloo Quay and the southern named Provost Blaikies Quay. During the period, the River Dee followed a course which corresponds with the modern-day Albert Basin, which was yet to be constructed.
Plans to divert the River Dee to its current route were agreed in 1868, allowing for the creation of the Albert Basin between 1869 and 1872, with Commercial Road to the formed to the north and Albert Quay to the south. The work resulted in the demolition of much of Old Torry on the south side of the river, the separate burgh being incorporated into the City of Aberdeen during 1891.The Albert Basin became the centre of the port's fishing industry, being home from 1889 to a covered fish market located at Commercial Quay which could accommodate several hundred vessels. Steam trawlers were introduced to the Aberdeen fishing fleet in 1882, the first being converted Tyneside-built tugboat the Toiler. Steam powered vessels were larger and faster than sailing ships and by 1912 over 230 steam trawlers were based in Aberdeen. Due to the higher cost of steam trawlers, fishing became increasingly more commercialised, with boats being operated by companies who paid their crews a wage, rather than family businesses who would share the value of the catch with their crew. To support the fishing industry several related industries prospered in the city, including the fish market, fish processing and ship building. The fish processing industry was dominated by women who cured, gutted and packed fish, typically in teams of three, with one team for each boat. A dry dock for the repair and maintenance of steamships was opened in January 1885 at the east end of the Albert Basin. Known as Pacific Wharf, the dry dock operated until 1915. It was demolished between 1924 and 1927 to allow for an extension to the fish market.
The North Pier was extended for a third and final time between 1874 and 1877, under the (31 & 32 Vict. c. cxxxviii) which authorise wider improvement works. A further was added using concrete, resulting in its current length of .
Matthews Quay was constructed in 1885 and named after Aberdeen Lord Provost James Matthews, who was also a prominent architect in the city.
20th century