In July Berwick Harbour Commissioners announced losses of £63,312 for 2010 on the back of a similar deficit in 2009. In an effort to turn things round, a deal was struck for the Berwick Harbour Commissioners to take over the management of Tweed Dock from W.N. Lindsay Stevedores.
The firm had been the stevedores and agent for the dock as well as operating the storage side, so it managed the unloading and loading of ships and handled the ships’ crews, while the harbour commissioners dealt with getting the ships to port. The deal, which was signed on 29 July, means that the commissioners receive a new income stream from goods coming into the harbour, giving them more revenue to invest in the port, whose business was up by 67 per cent in the first half of this year.
On the day the new deal was signed two vessels anchored off Berwick and entered port the next day to commence unloading on 1 August and become the first vessels handled under the new management.
