Tristan's harbour can only handle inshore craft, so ships must anchor offshore and ferry passengers and cargo in boats. The fabric is often affected by storms.
Calshot Harbour featured in an image taken from the helicopter of HMS Richmond on 31st October 2013
Puma Road is the access road which connects the harbour to the village.
The fishing factory is the large grey building sited overlooking the harbour.

Calshot Harbour (named after the Hampshire village which housed Tristanians between 1962-3 after the enforced evacuation following the volcanic eruption), was first opened in 1967. It cannot accommodate any ocean-going vessels or yachts, which must anchor some distance off the coast. Local craft or tenders ferry passengers and cargo to and from the harbour. However, the weather is only good enough 70 days a year to allow safe harbour traffic.

The harbour is 40 metres at the widest section and the two quays are 25 metres long, to the entrance of the harbour, which is 11 metres wide. The west breakwater is 50 metres in length, and the east breakwater is 15 metres long. The harbour is dredged to a depth of 2 metres.

The anchorage off the settlement is 15 fathoms (c.27 metres) deep.

History of the Harbour

Left: Big Beach
was used as a landing to offload boats until it was destroyed by lava in 1961.

Right: Anchorage
Fishing Boat MV Tristania approaching the anchorage in 1982

Left: 1970 Harbour
Roland Svensson's 1978 stamp design of Calshot Harbour, opened in 1967.

Right: Wave Attack
The harbour is shallow & even modest waves beak here, closing it on most days a year.
Photo by Janice Hentley

Left: Modern Harbour
Extended & improved but still inadequate despite locally made 'dolosse' breakwaters.

Right: New Site Rejected
Little Beach Lagoon was been surveyed as a potential new harbour site, but would have cost £21 million & is now abandoned.
Photos: James Glass

Operation Zest

16,000 tonne RFA Lyme Bay transported a joint services Task Force in 2008 to carry out extensive harbour reinforcements thought to have cost £7m.

Left: RFA Lyme Bay at anchor off Tristan

Right: Vehicles & Equipment coming ashore

Left: Laying concrete on the Western Breakwater

Right: Task Force commanders with Administrator David Morley and Chief Islander Conrad Glass on completion of the work.

Crane Replacement

Tristan's old heavy-duty crane collapsed on 11th April 2008.
A new fixed gantry crane was erected in December 2008

Photos show:

Left: The old crane in use

Right: The new crane after commissioning in January 2009

2009 Strengthening Work

Further strengthening work was carried out on the harbour in 2009

Photos show:

Left: Repairs to the nib

Right: New white dolosse placed outside the harbour walls