News / Industry offers to help emergency tugs
THE OFFSHORE oil and gas industry has promised to support the emergency coastguard tug service in the first real breakthrough in efforts to maintain the closure-threatened rescue service.
On Tuesday the UK government announced they would extend the existing contract to run the emergency towing vessels (ETV) for up to a further three months until the end of March 2012.
However no extra government cash is being made available, with £3 million promised at the end of September when the service was originally scheduled to end to be stretched out as far as possible.
Scottish secretary Michael Moore said that the industry/government working group looking at the future of the service had made progress over the past two months.
He said that following discussions with senior representatives, the North Sea oil industry had “indicated its willingness” to set up a “call-off arrangement”, where chartered vessels would be deployed to help with a marine emergency.
In a statement, Mr Moore said: “Detailed work is underway between operators, vessel owners and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on working practices and necessary protocols governing the arrangements.
“I have instructed that work should proceed quickly with a view to putting a framework in place as early as possible in the New Year.
“This is a very positive development offering additional reassurance to local communities, particularly those in the northern isles.
“This step also demonstrates active support by the oil industry for corporate social responsibility and I greatly welcome their helpful contribution and constructive engagement.”
Further work will be done to find a way to maintain protection for the western isles, he said.
A Scottish Office spokesman made it very clear that there was “no new government money” emergency tugs, which cost the public purse around £10 million a year.
Northern isles MP Alistair Carmichael said engagement between the government, local authorities and industry on the working group had been “excellent”.
But he used the occasion to criticise the Scottish government for making no contribution towards finding a solution to the tug issue.
He said: “I am disappointed that the SNP government in Edinburgh, which has never been slow off the mark with press releases about the importance of the tugs, has failed to come up with any contribution to the debate at all.
“Ministers at Holyrood have responsibility for marine conservation in Scotland so have a benefit from the presence of the tugs. They have completely failed, however, to put their money where their mouth is and have chosen instead to play politics.”
The ETV service of four powerful tugs to protect the UK coastline was set up in the wake of the 1993 Braer oil spill off Shetland and the subsequent Donaldson Inquiry report “Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas”.
In October last year the coalition government announced they were going to scrap the service as part of the public spending cuts, saying they would save £32.5 million over four years.
The decision caused an outcry and was condemned by the House of Commons select transport committee, but became overshadowed by the campaign to save coastguard stations from closure as part of the same programme of cuts.
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