Anglesey Marine Terminal
During the late 1960's the Shell Oil refinery at Stanlow, Ellesmere
Port, Cheshire was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain
sufficient crude oil supplies. The problems were due to the
restrictions placed on oil takers by the fast tides and busy nature
of the Mersey Estuary. At the time, to reduce cost, the world was
changing to larger oil tankers which could not be accommodated at
the Stanlow off loading points.
The solution to this problem was to build a floating oil receiving
station just off Amlwch in 1972. Oil from the station was pumped to
a shore station at Amlwch port. From here it was pumped to a holding
station at Rhosgoch and then onwards via underground pipes to the
oil refinery at Stanlow.
The single buoy mooring (SBM) enables a tanker to swing around a
single point with the tide. The one at Amlwch was 21 metres in
diameter and weighed 500 tonnes.
Oil from the tanker was pumped off via a 40 inch diameter pipe to
the Amlwch shore station. At the shore station booster pumps were
used to transfer the oil to the inland station at Rhosgoch.
To service the buoy two small vessels the Afon Alaw and Afon Briant
were situated in new storage terminals which were built on the site
of the old ship yard in Amlwch Port.
These pens were available at all states of the tide and
allowed the tugs to provided 24 hours assistance to tankers who were
mooring at the SBM. An office suite with large viewing windows was
also built.
From the inland station at Rhosgoch the oil was pumped via two 36
inch diameter pipes to the oil terminal at Stanlow 127 kilometres
away. The pipe line had to cross some of the most beautiful country
in Wales and special precautions were taken to ensure that the
countryside was returned to it former condition after the pipe line
had been laid.
The first tanker was off loaded via the SBM in March 1974. The
gigantic project was a success. However by the mid 80s the use of
large crude oil tankers was again diminishing and the terminal was
closed by 1990.