News / Moore buys time to find permanent tugs
THE UK government has confirmed that £3 million will be found to provide replacement tugs to protect the north and west of Scotland for three months.
Scottish secretary Michael Moore said the money would buy time to secure a long term replacement for the coastguard’s emergency towing vessels (ETVs), which were withdrawn on Friday night as part of the government’s austerity drive.
Mr Moore said: “I am aware of the strength of feeling on this issue expressed by communities in the northern and western isles.
“It is disappointing that efforts by local representatives to secure a commercial replacement for this service were unsuccessful before expiry of the contract.
“I believe it is worth a final attempt to try and find a solution, and the Scotland Office has agreed to lead the efforts.
“The UK government is to offer funding to cover replacement services for an interim period and I am speaking to local authorities today (Tuesday) on how this should work.”
He added that work was already underway to put in place a replacement service as soon as “practically possible”, but the government still believed that long-term emergency towing cover should be supplied by private industry.
“Everyone must be clear that this cannot be a long-term solution. The majority of traffic in these waters is owned by private companies and we will be engaging with them and others to find a satisfactory alternative.
“There are many ways to deal with maritime incidents and ETVs are only one option. Commercial and salvage industry can be used by operators to assist ships in difficulty.
“There are a variety of means of securing this form of assistance if needed, including invoking powers to secure vessels from commercial providers. We are confident that if a vessel of this kind is required, there are sufficient commercial operators available to draw on,” he said.
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