News / Unite confirms support for tug men at Sullom Voe
TRADE union Unite have confirmed that it will support all its members working on the tugs at Flotta and at Sullom Voe should they decide to boycott the docking of any Russian owned tankers visiting the ports.
At the weekend, Unite reassured the crews on the tugs in Orkney that they “will support any members”, a position that has now been extended to the crews working at the Sullom Voe port in Shetland.
Orkney Islands Council has meanwhile said in a statement that “no stone is being left unturned” in their efforts to prevent the Russian owned NS Champion from loading a cargo of crude at Flotta terminal on Tuesday.
This follows on from a similar scenario in Shetland at the end of last week, but with no such statement from Shetland Islands Council.
Isles MP Alistair Carmichael said it was “incredible” that Sovcomflot were not earlier candidates for sanctions against Russia.
Some names from the board of directors illustrates how close Sovcomflot is to the inner circle around Vladimir Putin.
The current board includes the deputy president and chair of VTB Bank which is listed on the UK list of sanctions as well as three deputy ministers in the government of the Russian federation.
Meanwhile, a third tanker owned by Sovcomflot, a company that majority owned by the Russian State, is discharging a cargo of crude destined for the INEOS refinery at the at the Port of Finnart at the Scottish west coast.
It comes as oil giant BP has announced that it will exit its 19.75 per cent shareholding in the Russian energy company Rosneft with the company’s chief executive Bernard Looney resigning from Rosneft’s board with immediate effect.
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