More than 100 people from businesses and the local community joined the team from Falmouth Harbour as they opened the doors on the Trust Port’s wide-ranging environmental, commercial and leisure operations during its first ever public open day at its Grove Place Boat Park.
The day focused on the future of the vibrant Harbour which was named SME Port of the Year 2025 by the British Ports Association. It also reflected on a busy and successful past year with the publication of its Annual Report for 2025 and year end accounts
Falmouth Harbour’s vast 65sq mile jurisdiction includes the operation of 600 moorings, a visitors’ marina, a busy pilotage service with a 1,000 movements a year and a world class cruise ship destination, as well as restoring sea grass meadows and testing marine renewables at its FaBTest site in Falmouth Bay.
“It’s been fantastic on this sunny day to welcome in so many local businesses and members of the community who are interested in the workings of our amazing Harbour,” says CEO Miles Carden. “We cover such a wide range of activity and it’s great for all of us to get the chance to talk about what we do. It’s also a good opportunity to hear people’s ideas: as a Trust Port we have a duty to operate successfully and sustainably for the benefit of everybody.”
A huge draw during the day were the guided tours of the Harbour’s state-of-the-art pilot boat Atlantic with all visitors’ slots booked up well in advance. The £1.6M vessel runs on renewable HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) and is one of the cleanest, safest, most fuel-efficient Pilot Boats in the UK – in a pilotage which operates 24/7, 365 days a year.
Joining the Harbour were marine collaborators including Reef Float – whose prototype all-concrete pontoon float is being successfully tested at the Visitors’ Marina in a first step to removing all Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) floats from the Harbour’s leisure and commercial operations.
2025 was a busy year with leisure vessels: the team in Falmouth Haven had more than 800 visitors to the Harbour facilities, delivered 293,000 litres of fuel and looked after 850 seasonal customers across its 600 moorings, marina and boat park.
Among the many and varied activities for the Pilot Services crews, cruise operations reached record levels with 42 cruise visits and around 55,000 passengers visiting Falmouth, representing the most diverse mix of vessels the harbour has hosted. This is set to increase in 2026 with up to 50 visits.
Innovation and renewable energy also featured strongly during the year with Crondall Energy deploying a floating offshore renewable demonstrator at the FaBTest site in Falmouth Bay in July. Built locally at A&P Falmouth Docks, the project highlighted the growing role Cornwall can play in offshore renewable energy technology and testing.
The Open Day was such a success Falmouth Harbour aims to build on the event and go bigger, longer and even better in 2027.
For more information on the Trust Port of Falmouth Harbour, Falmouth Haven, Falmouth Pilot Services and its wide-ranging environmental initiatives, visit https://www.falmouthharbour.co.uk/
