The harsh winter has broken many records, one of which was the arrival in Leith of the largest vessel handled by the port to date. Following the arrival of Great River (2994/19,829gt) in November (see SM, Jan-Feb), two further consignments of road salt arrived at the start of the year. The Korean flagged Eny ((1989/17,061gt) brought in 26,000 tonnes on 7 January, while Merchant (1977/30,987gt) arrived in the Forth the previous day and entered Leith early on 10 January.
At 44,865dwt, 201m in length and 31m in beam, she was just 0.6m narrower than the lock width. Her visit required a vessel-to-vessel cargo transfer at the Burntisland anchorage to allow her to gain sufficient draft clearance for entry into Leith.
