News / Government hopeful to get tug cover in place
THE NORTH and west of Scotland will not be protected by coastguard tugs for the next few days, while a new three month contract is put in place.
The news emerged as northern isles MP Alistair Carmichael vowed to be at the forefront of negotiations for a permanent deal to provide emergency towing vessels for Scottish waters.
His comments at the weekend follow Friday’s surprise news that the government had found enough money at the last minute to maintain tug cover for three months.
However the northern isles and The Minch have been without dedicated emergency towing cover since the weekend.
The original contract with tug operator JP Knights expired on Friday night as part of the government’s public spending cuts.
The Scottish Office will now lead negotiations to put in place a three month interim contract for two Scottish tugs.
A government spokesman said that they were hopeful to have some cover in place soon: “We move as fast as we can,” he said.
He added that office were working on the finer detail for interim contract which was brought in to buy time to help negotiate a long-term solution.
Campaigners have welcomed these latest developments, but stressed that maritime communities around Scotland are in urgent need of a permanent solution.
On Sunday, Mr Carmichael said he was confident that a package involving different funders from within government and the industry could now be negotiated and he would be very much involved in these talks.
“A permanent solution to this is what we want, and I will be working on this fairly urgently from now on along with other government departments,” he said.
“I am confident that there is a case that could be put together. We would still be looking for some contribution from industry and from different parts of government.”
The Liberal Democrat deputy chief whip said this should not be seen as a change in government policy, as shipping minister Mike Penning had always maintained that it was worth exploring various funding models.
He said such talks would now be better resourced and conducted with more “rigour”.
Mr Carmichael added that he could understand why the local government working group had given up on reaching a compromise deal.
Just hours before the news of an interim arrangement broke, the four highlands and islands councils had issued an 11th hour plea to the government to commit to a new contract for two tugs.
Meanwhile the Scottish government urged Westminster to reinstate the emergency towing cover as quickly as they could.
Environment minister Richard Lochhead said: “I am glad that a three month reprieve is to be forthcoming but as these are emergency response tugs we need the UK government to progress this as soon as possible and get our vital tugs back in place protecting both our mariners and the environment.
“We also need a long term solution in place. It is just not good enough to cut an important service with no replacement. Decisions which may harm our coastline should not be made for cost cutting reasons.
“I will continue to press the UK government to live up to its responsibilities, otherwise the three month contract will come to an end right in the middle of winter which would be very dangerous. We can’t wait until it is too late.”
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