120886: Stornoway Harbour, Stornoway

This sheltered natural harbour was named in the early ninth centure by the Vikings as Stjórnavágr (steering bay), and lends its name to the settlement which grew up around it. It is located on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis.

Historically, Stornoway Harbour is known as the centre for the local herring industry, and for the 1919 Iolaire Disaster, one of the worst maritime disasters in United Kingdom waters, in which a yacht carrying men returning from the First World War sank, with a death toll of 205,  at the entrance of the harbour.

Stornoway Harbour hosts both commercial and leisure vessels, as well as Stornoway Lifeboat Station, a Coastguard centre, and ferry port. A lighthouse and manufacturing facilities are situated on Arnish Point, at the mouth of the harbour. Stornoway Port Authority oversees vessel safety within harbour limits, overseeing infrastructure, operations and facilities. The thoroughfare which runs alongside Esplanade Quay, North Beach Quay, and Cromwell Street Quay in central Stornoway is also known as Stornoway Harbour.