Update

This is a picture I took a year ago, on 8 April 2006. It shows a large ship, belonging to the Bigshipping company. At the time, I emailed the operators in Amsterdam. They told me that the "Happy River" was sheltering off Stornoway, waiting the conditions to improve in the North Atlantic. The ship carried 5 modules on deck, up to 26 metres (87 ft) high. Each module weighed about 300 tons. These modules were destined for an aluminium smelter, being built at Fjarðaál, Iceland. The funny d-like symbol should be pronounced like the "th" in "they".

Fjarðaál (Icelandic for aluminium valley) is a project at Reyðarfjörður, in eastern Iceland. The ferry from Scotland and the Faeroes docks at Seydhisfjordhur, 57 km from Fjardaal.


Seyðisfjörður from the sea


Map of the Fjarðaál project

Tonight, I was watching Eorpa [Europe], a Gaelic language program on BBC Scotland. It comes with English subtitles. One of the subjects was - Fjarðaál. It featured a debate about the environmental impact of building dams to block off glacial rivers, to generate electricity. This requires the flooding of valleys, and there is a discussion going on in the country whether they really need that. The project will generate 400 jobs, but are they needed in a place whichhas virtually no unemployment.