Associated British Ports (ABP) is in advanced talks with a number of companies looking to run cargo operations, including forest products shipping, from Ailsa Troon in Ayrshire.

ABP has a 50 year lease on the former shipyard and has invested heavily in developing a new timber handling facility and fish market and attracting the SeaCat fast car ferry service to Northern Ireland.

The company is also in negotiation with Ailsa Dry Dock which wants to start a shipbuilding and repair business in the docks.

ABP has said it would invest with operators in developing new facilities to support long term contracts.

&#8220We are very much Scotland’s premier logging port and also export and we are looking to build on that”

Port manager for Troon and Ayr Alastair MacFarlane

Port manager for Troon and Ayr Alastair MacFarlane said: “We are very much Scotland’s premier logging port and we also export and we would look to build on that.

“We are involved in TimberLink – a venture whereby ABP transfers logs from the West Highlands into Troon which takes around 80,000 tonnes of logs off the roads each year.

“We also bring pulp logs from Arran into Troon by barge and export logs from here to Finland for paper manufacturing.”