Argyll and Bute Council has achieved a national good practice standard for its ports and harbours.
The Port Marine Safety Code (PMSC) sets out a national safety standard covering different aspects of running ports and harbours, and represents ‘good practice’ as recognised by a wide range of industry stakeholders.
The Department for Transport publishes a list of compliant ports every three years, and Argyll and Bute can now be included in the next edition.
The current list of more than 230 ports, published by The Department for Transport as complying with the Code, represents around 14% of UK ports and 30% of Statutory Harbour Authorities.
Achieving the standard involves an independent assessor, or Designated Person, carrying out assurance audits of ports and harbours.
During their assurance audit in Argyll and Bute, the Designated Person highlighted examples of ‘Best Practice’ including operations at Rothesay Harbour.
Chair of the Harbour Board, and Policy Lead for Roads and Transport, Councillor Andrew Kain, said: “I’m immensely proud of everyone in marine operations who worked to achieve PMSC compliance.
“Our ports and harbours play a key role in connecting our island communities to the mainland and in driving our tourism economy. It’s important that residents, businesses and visitors have the comfort of knowing our marine assets are operated professionally and to the highest safety standards.”