Cromarty Firth

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Looking from Invergordon toward oil rigs in Cromarty Firth.

The Cromarty Firth (Scottish Gaelic Caolas Chrombaidh, pronounced [kɯːɫ̪əs̪ xɾɔumbaj] - literally Kyles/Straits of Cromarty) forms an arm of the North Sea in Scotland.

From where it joins Moray Firth, the Cromarty Firth extends inland in a westerly and then south-westerly direction for a distance of 19 miles (30.6 kilometres). Excepting at Nigg Bay (on the northern shore) and at Cromarty Bay (on the southern shore) where it is about 5 miles (8 kilometres) wide (due north and south); and at Alness Bay, where it is 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) wide; it has an average width of 1 mile (1.6 kilometre), forming one of the safest and most commodious anchorages in the north of Scotland. The southern side of the Firth is formed by the Black Isle.

The Cromarty Firth is the middle of three sea lochs at the head of the Moray Firth: to the north lies the Dornoch Firth, and to the south the Beauly Firth.

At its head the Firth receives its principal river, the River Conon. Other streams it receives include the Allt Graad, Coruon, Peffery, Sgitheach and Alness, and the principal places on its shores are Dingwall near the head, Cromarty near the mouth, Kiltearn, Invergordon and Kilmuir on the north.

Entrance to the Cromarty Firth, with oil rigs behind

Invergordon was once at one time a major base for the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. The Firth was the scene of the Invergordon Mutiny in 1931. Remnants of the Navy remain, such as the disused airfield near Evanton (now an industrial estate) which was built to take aircraft from the fleet carriers while they were at anchor. During WWII there was a large training and operational base for Catalina amphibians and Sunderland seaplanes, which extended from Invergordon to Alness point - also now an industrial estate. A memorial to the men who were killed on operational missions was placed at this industrial estate in 2001. A propeller from a Catalina was found and restored by RAF apprentices and now resides in the town of Alness. The tennis courts on the industrial estate are the only remaining parts of the estate which date from WWII.

The entrance to the Firth is guarded by two precipitous rocks — the one on the north 400 feet (121.92 metres) high and the one on the south 463 feet (141.12 metres) high — called "The Sutors" from a fancied resemblance to a couple of shoemakers (in Scots, souters) bent over their lasts. The best view of the whole Firth is from the top of Fyrish.

The firth is a designated as a Special Protection Area for wildlife conservation purposes. There is one bridge, the A9 road bridge, most of which is a causeway. In the past there were several ferries across the firth (for example at Foulis) but now there is only one, a two-car ferry that runs between Cromarty and Nigg.

[edit] Oil industry

The settlement of Nigg is an important North Sea oil centre. Former Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root owns the 170 acre fabrication yard south of the settlement of Nigg. This is an important North Sea oil centre with a dry dock for repairing and fabricating oil rigs. The yard was opened in 1972 as a joint venture between Brown & Root (as it then was) and construction giant George Wimpey. Today the yard is known as KBR Caledonia Ltd.

In late 2004 KBR was named as a possible "physical integrator" for the Royal Navy future aircraft carrier, in this role it was to manage the "carrier alliance"; BAE Systems, Thales and the UK Ministry of Defence. Following suggestions that KBR wished to assemble the two 60,000 tonne vessels at its Nigg Yard the MoD stated that whatever KBR's involvement assembly would take place at Rosyth.

Elsewhere along the firth are facilities for cruise ships, oil processing, and other maritime activities.