Press Release
Brief Points on Coastguard Consultation
Quote from the executive summary of the Coastguard consultation:
“we are changing the way we use our waters and our shores. This is making our coastline far busier than ever before. We are building much larger ships that are less manoeuvrable and drilling rigs and increasing numbers of wind farms pepper the seas around the UK. As a result our seas are becoming much more congested. Weather conditions are also becoming more extreme, with significant weather events becoming more frequent and severe, making work at sea more perilous and increasing the risk of coastal flooding.”
The Main Points on the Coastguard Consultation
Flaws in the consultation assumptions
Links to the mainland
Local Resilience and inter agency work
Local Knowledge
Local Safety
Geography / Environment
Flaws in the consultation assumptions
The Coastguard has been through a number of reviews since the 1970’s. The current proposals appear to be based on a seasonal / diurnal (day to night range) basis which, while perhaps appropriate for Southern UK where there is a larger leisure market and beach culture, this is not applicable to Northern Scotland. The incidents in Northern Scotland appear to occur at any time of the year or day with no discernable peaks.
There also appears to be no weighting given to the severity and duration of an incident. For example a child blown off the beach on an inflatable may only require a 10-minute response, whilst an event such as the Bourbon Dolphin or Piper Alpha takes many days of 24-hour co-ordination.
The consultation focuses on search and rescue co-ordination provided by the Coastguard and not on the many other services that the station provides to the local area.
E.g.
Co-ordination of local resources in the event of extreme weather / landslides.
Co-ordination and local tasking of local emergency helicopter and alternative landing / pick up sites.
Co-ordination of out of hour’s local inter island ferries with other emergency services.
Local and inshore leisure and small boat users – voyage plans, Local forecasts and information and reporting.
Importance of incident prevention work.
Contact between full time professional staff and the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service.
Links to the mainland
Communication between Shetland and the mainland is unreliable. In 2009 the connection went down 15 times and in 2010, 11 times. During these disruptions, the present Coastguard station continued to operate through it’s hard wired connection to the adjacent antenna. The ETV was used to extend coverage and to act as a repeater / relay station between Shetland and the mainland.
The current connection is based on a commercial operator located on the mainland. Due to distance, availability of transport and weather, this has resulted in delays in getting parts and qualified technicians to Shetland to rectify problems.
If the proposals were to go ahead, a breakdown in the link to the mainland would cause a communications blackout in Shetland and the surrounding waters leaving it vulnerable and unmonitored.
At the time of writing large areas of the Stornoway Coastguard district are without power with several radio masts out of action, including one, on the mainland (near Cape Wrath) that is controlled from Aberdeen. The situation is being contained locally by the Coastguard, however the lack of electricity is causing further problems with any computer dependent communications throughout the Island Chain
Experience of centralised call centres for emergency response in the Highlands and Islands has shown there are many difficulties. There are examples of response staff being sent from or to the wrong location and on occasions to completely different island groups.
Lerwick Port (with a turn over in 2009 £8,350,000) is the lifeline link for Shetland. The local Coastguard, situated overlooking the port, offers an increased resilience to harbour activities. When Lerwick Port has experienced communications failures Shetland Coastguard has been able to ensure that normal operations continue.
Pages 22 and 23 of the Consultation discuss the proposed structure and sub centres
“it would make sense for these centres to be evenly spread across the regions and to be located on the coast. This would facilitate contacts between Coastguard Centres and the volunteers of the Coastguard Rescue Service, and contacts with other Search and Rescue partners with regional resilience forums”
The closure of the Coastguard station will not make this possible due to our remote and distant location.
Resilience and inter agency work
Removal of the Coastguard function in Shetland reduces our current level of resilience. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 place a statutory duty on Cat 1 responders to work with Integrated Emergency Management (IEM)– by closing the Lerwick station, it would effectively knock out one the legs that support IEM in Shetland through our Shetland Emergency Planning Forum. Likewise Stornoway Coastguard are a key participant in the Western Isles Emergency Planning Group, and, even as this document is being written, are leading on our joint response to a severe weather event anticipated over the next few hours.
Both island groups are remote, to mainland Britain and frequently subjected to severe weather. With the long, complex, coastline and large maritime industry, people have come to rely on the Coastguard as the 4th emergency service. The removal of 26 professional staff, at either location, taken in conjunction with cut backs in other emergency services and assets, will leave the islands unable to respond effectively immediately following a major incident. Additional support can be called from elsewhere however, as Shetland has experienced with the Braer, this can sometimes take days to arrive.
The “toolbox” available to deal with any major incident is slowly being eroded away. Currently either under threat or gone:
Nimrod
ETV
Offshore fire fighting
Police
Lighthouses
Local knowledge
Local knowledge is a crucial resource in achieving a prompt response within the first, or golden hour of any incident.
Shetland, Orkney, the North of Scotland and the Western Isles are remote areas with a wide range of dialects, accents and even language. Place names are not always unique and often can be found in all of the regions mentioned. As a result many places have local names for geographical features and locations that are not published on any book or chart.
Shetland and the Western Isles have many single track and challenging roads with numerous hills and radio black spots. Local knowledge of such features is crucial in the early co-ordination of any incident. The closure of the station would mean much, if not all of this local knowledge would be lost.
The current CG station allows local coordination and the exchange of information and professional knowledge between services. It also allows for a liaison person in the Coastguard station in the event of an incident. (e.g. during the Stena Carron and Greenpeace incident off Lerwick Harbour a police officer was based in the CG station). The centralisation of response centres would inevitably lead to a delay and reduction in effectiveness of this liaison.
Shetland maintains good connections, not only culturally, but professionally through the local Coastguard with Faeroe and Norway. Loss of the local station would be detrimental to those connections.
Local Safety
There are also questions and concerns over what would happen to the local services the Coastguard provides.
e.g. to the:
Small inshore fisheries;
Inter-island ferries;
Provision of local weather forecast to near coastal and small boat users;
Leisure users; and
Transit Report’s (TR’s).
Geography / Environment
Scotland has approximately 60% of the UK coastline, however the proposals will mean that it has only 25% of the Coastguard stations.
Shetland
Shetland is 190 nautical miles from nearest part of UK mainland
It is approximately 85 nautical miles from Fair Isle to N. Unst
Never more than 3 miles from the sea in Shetland
The unusual 'jigsaw' shape of the Shetland Islands packs a profusion of coastal and marine life into the 1700-mile-long coastline of a land area of just 567 square miles. There is about 20 times as much coastline per square mile of land in Shetland as in Sussex or Norfolk. Add in islands of Arran, Islay, Jura, Orkney and Western Isles equates to approx 7380 miles
Growing oil and gas development to West and North
Increasing interest in marine renewables
Large and economically important fishing and aquaculture industries. (Worth £225 million in Shetland in 2006)
Renowned natural environment.
The inshore waters around Shetland are still pristine, and certainly the cleanest in the North Sea
The variety of inshore habitats over short distances is remarkable - from seabed over 120m deep to cliffs over 200m high; from tidal lagoons and sandy beaches to caves and kelp forest; from oxygen-depleted waters at the head of Sullom Voe to the turbulent, oxygen-rich waters of Bluemull Sound.
The continental shelf around the islands is one of the richest and most productive seas in the world. As a plankton producer it ranks with the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Russia’s Sea of Okhotsk and the Gulf of Alaska. Like the deeper waters west of the shelf edge, it is far more “biodiverse” than a casual observer might suppose
Populations of gannets, fulmars, puffins, guillemots, black guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, arctic and common terns, great and arctic skuas, shags, cormorants, eiders, red-breasted merganser and red-throated divers
Shetland is a vital staging post for migratory birds and has a world-famous ornithological observatory on Fair Isle. Shore birds and wintering wildfowl are particularly vulnerable to coastal oil pollution.
Populations of grey and common seals and otters are nationally important. Shetland has the highest density of otters in the UK. Grey seals have been recorded as far as 70 miles out in the Atlantic.
Western Isles
Almost all of what has been said about Shetland is equally applicable to the Western Isles.
The island chain is 120 miles long
With very few exceptions, habitation is restricted to the coastal strip
Marine traffic funnels through the Little Minch, between Harris and Skye, with navigation constrained to IMO Recommended Routes with very little room for error.
Similarly to Shetland, the waters are pristine and support an extremely broad variety of marine life, a fact that is recognised at European Level with the intended imposition of SAC (Special area of Conservation) status in the Sound of Barra and off Mingulay.
St Kilda is a UNESCO world heritage site
Aquaculture is an increasingly valuable part of the UK economy, Government statistics attach a value of £377 million to this sector on the Scottish West Coast, with a further £89.3 million valuation of commercial fish landings at the various ports within the same area.
During 2010 the Minch based ETV was tasked 115 times, mainly to provide escort services, however three significant incidents were responded to
- Yeoman Bontrup (Large Bulk Carrier)– major fire whilst alongside at remote loading location. ETV provided boundary cooling and then moved the Casualty to safe anchorage.
- HMS Astute (Nuclear Submarine)- grounded with no suitable MOD tug in the locality
- Red Duchess (Coaster) Disabled on lee shore in adverse weather conditions. RNLI Lifeboat was struggling to contain the situation
2011
- RAF Tornado (Military Aircraft) Ditched in Minch, crew picked up by Coastguard Helicopter, ETV tasked to scene to recover wreckage.
- Jack Abry II (Fishing Vessel) Ashore on Rhum, Lifeboat unable to effect rescue of crew without further serious risk to both parties. Coastguard Helicopter lifted off all 14 crew, ETV tasked to scene to provide initial pollution response and salvage support
In all of the above the ETV played a major role in resolving the situation, and providing a favourable outcome.
Recorded traffic through Minches
Year |
Totals |
2008 |
2095 |
2009 |
2322 |
2010 |
2442 |
There can also be absolutely no doubt that the presence of a local coastguard station played a crucial part in the speedy and safe recovery of the two man crew who ejected from an RAF tornado in January 2011 and even more so in the airlift of 14 fishermen from the grounded trawler.
Shipping Numbers in 2010 (this is recorded by voluntary reporting)
Over 9 million gross tonnes of shipping in Sullom Voe
Over 2 million gross tonnes of shipping in Flotta, Scapa Flow
Over 900 vessels carried dangerous goods through the Fair Isle channel (approx 29 ½ million gross tonnes)
Over 2600 reports from vessels transiting the Pentland Firth.
Over 2400 reported vessel transits of the Minches
48 cruise ship visits to Lerwick (> 1 million gross tonnes)
69 cruise ship visits to Orkney (Scotland most favourite cruise ship destination and cruisecritic.com most popular cruise ship destination in the UK)
181 Transit Reports from leisure craft with over 600 persons onboard
Lerwick harbour has more than 500 yachts visits annually
Orkney Harbours had nearly 700 yacht visits.
Tankers GT at Sullom Voe
Year |
Total Tanker Gross Tonnage |
2010 |
9233601 |
2009 |
9543086 |
2008 |
11583543 |
2007 |
12581487 |
2006 |
14051296 |
2005 |
12413531 |
2004 |
16580820 |
2003 |
18911068 |
2002 |
19413482 |
2001 |
21803471 |
Tankers GT at Flotta, Scapa Flow
Year |
Total Tanker Gross Tonnage |
2010 |
2080147 |
2009 |
2087451 |
2008 |
2395647 |
2007 |
3935383 |
2006 |
3945649 |
2005 |
4781924 |
2004 |
5493115 |
2003 |
5908131 |
2002 |
7568109 |
2001 |
6910938 |
QUESTIONS - Coastguard
What is the basis for assuming a diurnal range for incident response in Scotland?
With nearly 24 hours daylight in mid summer and on a few hours of daylight in mid winter, what is the purpose of a day only station?
What are the proposals / plans to upgrade and guarantee a 100% communication link with the major Scottish island groups?
The new technology referred to in the consultation (AIS, LRIT etc) is already in place. It is not carried by all vessels, particularly not the smaller and domestic vessels.
- Are there any plans to increase the requirements for more vessels to carry and operate these systems?
- Will there be more receiving stations? and
- Will the Coastguard be responsible for monitoring any more or any less routes around the UK?
Has there been any consideration been taken into the socio economic impact to the more remote regions of the UK by losing the ETV and Coastguard stations?
With reference to the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, has there been any study done on the effects to local resilience plans by reducing / removing key emergency services from remote island groups?
Currently the local Coastguard station calls out and co-ordinates out of hours emergency response to allow access to the remote islands. How will this be covered from a distant centre?
How do the MCA propose to develop and promote communication between the volunteer service and the professional service if the local station is closed on the island groups?
Has any consideration been taken of the non core functions that local Coastguard stations provide?
Why has there been no apparent weighting given to the severity or duration of an incident?
How do the MCA intend to deal with the loss of local knowledge that will inevitably occur if the local stations are closed?
At present a liaison officer or local meeting room can be used by members of all the services responding to an incident such as the Bourbon Dolphin or the Stena Carron and Greenpeace. If the local station were to close how would this co-ordination and close working continue?
Has any consideration been taken to the potential growth and development, both in the oil and gas industry and the marine renewable industry in Scottish waters?
Has the ability to understand local dialects and language been taken into account?
How many incidents will a MOC be able to handle and still manage routine traffic?
Are there no other government owned cost effective locations for an MOC than Aberdeen?
ETV
Insufficient capacity
Harbour tugs
Increasing traffic
MCA figures for ETV
Insufficient Capacity
We do not believe that there is sufficient capacity in the islands all year round to provide the same response capability and time as the current ETV. There is no doubt that at times there are vessels in the vicinity that may be able to come to the aid of a vessel in distress. However,
Few of these vessels will be as well equipped to deal with all the potential situations that the ETV is currently outfitted for;
A vessel engaged in another operation such as anchor work or towing will not be able to respond quickly without putting others at risk or danger;
Vessels in port may be unable to respond due to crewing, maintenance or contracts.
There are large periods of time when there are no other suitable vessels available.
Harbour Tugs
Harbour tugs, are designed to work within sheltered waters and are not suitable or able to attend a vessel in bad weather in open waters.
Harbour tugs have a primary role and contracts to work within their given ports. The tugs may not be able to be released without seriously affecting the ability of a port to operate safely.
Harbour Tugs were discounted in the MCA’s last review in 2000.
Other nations have realised the need for specialised vessels e.g. Spain, France, Germany, Norway
Increasing Traffic
The consultation acknowledges,
“we are changing the way we use our waters and our shores. This is making our coastline far busier than ever before. We are building much larger ships that are less manoeuvrable and drilling rigs and increasing numbers of wind farms pepper the seas around the UK. As a result our seas are becoming much more congested. Weather conditions are also becoming more extreme, with significant weather events becoming more frequent and severe, making work at sea more perilous and increasing the risk of coastal flooding.”
There is an increase in the development in the oil and gas fields to the North and West of Shetland.
Decommissioning work is likely to begin to the East of Shetland
There is an increase in the use of marine renewables and the vessels that survey sites and install and service the equipment.
There is an increase in the Cruise Ship and leisure market in Shetland and the North of Scotland.
Sullom Voe and Scapa Flow are both important destinations for Ship-to-Ship operations.
MCA figures for ETV
The figures supplied by the MCA for use of the Emergency Towing Vessel are for active towing only and retrospective oil pollution incidents. They do not take into consideration passive escorting or other duties that the vessels currently fulfil.
e.g.
Offshore fire fighting capability – essential part of the Marine Incident Response Group (MIRG)
Standby by vessel for the MIRG
Offshore rescue vessel – rescue and recovery of personnel
Search and Rescue function
Pollution response
The ability to provide a on scene communications and command platform
Nor is the information forward looking
e.g.
The Russian Export Blend Crude Oil passing Shetland much of which will then proceed West of the Hebrides or during extreme weather opt for passage through the Minches.
It is not like a lorry breaking down at the side of the road, ships continue to move when they suffer problems, causing hazards to other vessels. The lives of those onboard, the environment and local economies are all at risk. The risk from shipping not only comes from tankers.
e.g.
Cruise ships (48 called at Lerwick and 69 in Orkney with a total of 57,643 passengers)
Ferry connections to / from Shetland (127,775 passengers in 2010)
Container vessels (can carry a mixture of hazardous goods)
Fishing fleet
Offshore supply and standby boats
FPSO’s (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel e.g. Schiehallion and Foinhaven)
Naval vessels
The Minches
The majority of southbound Tanker Traffic will route west of the Hebrides, within the Designated Deep Water Route, however this is not without its potential problems, any loss of propulsion (similar to Braer) will quickly develop into a major emergency with a serious risk of grounding should there be any substantial delay in sourcing a suitable tug.
The nearest tugs of any substance are all harbour based, Sullom Voe, Scapa Flow, or the Clyde, being the nearest, and, as referenced elsewhere in this document, are neither designed or equipped for salvage or open water towage in severe weather. Apart from the obvious fact that they all have other taskings and may not be free to drop everything and respond.
During periods of severe weather southbound tankers may opt for a Minch passage as being a less risky option and currently the Coastguard ETV will be tasked as escort.
The availability of the ETV is a major element in the Risk Control Options that have been developed for the Minches.
Minch based ETV
Year |
ETV tasked |
Totalling (Hrs) |
Survey (Hrs) |
2010 |
115 |
355 |
691 |
Orkney / Shetland ETV
Year |
ETV tasked |
Totalling (Hrs) |
Survey (Hrs) |
2005 |
11 |
59 |
272 |
2006 |
7 |
120 |
2289 |
2007 |
6 |
47 |
1710 |
2008 |
6 |
91 |
1346 |
2009 |
4 |
71 |
|
2010 |
4 |
118 |
Background
On 05 January 1993, the tanker Braer, loaded with approximately 85,000 metric tons of Gulfaks crude ran aground on the shores of Southern tip of Shetland.
As a result of the incident the Secretary of State for Transport appointed Lord Donaldson, Mr John Rendle CBE and Professor Alasdair McIntyre to “advise on whether any further measures are appropriate and feasible to protect the United Kingdom coastline from pollution from merchant shipping”. The result of that inquiry became know as “Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas” or the “Donaldson Report”.
The report produced a large number of recommendations and resulted in major changes to improve safety and reduce the risk of pollution.
Recommendation 85 of the report stated that,
“The UK Government should set up a system to ensure that tugs with adequate salvage capacity are available at key points around UK shores.”
It also went on to recommend,
“where adequate capacity cannot be provided in any other way, the UK Government should arrange for the funding of the difference between what is needed and what the private sector can provide.”
Green Lilly – November 1997
On Wednesday 19th November 1997, the M.V. "Green Lily" ran aground and foundered on Bressay. During the rescue operations, the winchman, Mr Deacon, from the rescue helicopter tragically lost his life. In the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report that followed the first recommendation of the report stated:
“The Director of Logistics and Maritime Transport of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions is recommended to: Review previous decisions not to provide the recommended ETV cover in “Fair Isle” and re-examine the need for emergency towing cover in the area.”
Multiank Ascania – March 1999
On 19 March 1999 the 2,780 gross tonnage chemical tanker “Multitank Ascania” caught fire and became disabled in the Pentland Firth. In less than an hour all the crew had been evacuated and a tug from Orkney had made fast to the bow. However 20 minutes after making fast the towline parted. In the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report that followed, the MAIB stated
“It is possible that had ETV cover been based in the area, appropriate assistance would have been rendered. Although a dedicated ETV would have significant advantages over most other vessels tasked to provide a tow, there is no guarantee that its efforts would be successful. Associated with a chemical cargo, the crew may have been evacuated before the ETV’s arrival. Connecting a tow to an unmanned vessel without power forward in a high sea state is far from easy.”
In 1999 the MCA introduced an emergency towing vessel to be on standby in the Northern Isles. The tug is on 30 minutes notice, all year round.
ETV Review – 2000
In a report published in December 2000 by the MCA a cost benefit analysis of ETV provision was carried out. The calculation reported for an ETV based around Fair Isle and the Minches were:
Base Case NPV of Benefit over 10 Years |
||||
Pollution Prevention |
Safety Benefits |
Receipts |
Total Benefit |
|
Fair Isle |
£5,981,136 |
£6,931,484 |
£1,782,836 |
£14,695,456 |
The Minches |
£12,580,863 |
£6,327,975 |
£1,782,836 |
£20,691,675 |
In the same report the annual probability of an oil tanker grounding in Shetland waters was calculated as once in every 27 years, once every 18 years in the Minches with the annual probably around the whole of the UK of a grounding from other vessels being as high as four times every year. The provision of an ETV was estimated to reduce the risk by 50%. The report also estimated the following
Breakdown of Costs Incurred UK Economy by the Spilling of One Tonne of Oil |
||||||
Common Costs to crude and bunker oils |
||||||
Fishing |
Agriculture |
Tourism |
Property |
Total |
||
Dover Strait |
£237 |
£41 |
£59 |
£12 |
£349 |
|
SW Approaches |
£416 |
£41 |
£59 |
£12 |
£528 |
|
The Minches |
£594 |
£59 |
£36 |
£12 |
£701 |
|
Fair Isle |
£475 |
£59 |
£29 |
£12 |
£575 |
|
Irish Sea |
£475 |
£53 |
£36 |
£12 |
£576 |
|
Crude Oil |
||||||
Common |
Cleanup |
Value |
Damage to |
Cost per |
||
Cost Total |
costs |
of Oil |
vessel |
tonne |
||
Dover Strait |
£349 |
£594 |
£71 |
£119 |
£1,133 |
|
SW Approaches |
£528 |
£594 |
£71 |
£119 |
£1,312 |
|
The Minches |
£701 |
£1187 |
£71 |
£119 |
£2,078 |
|
Fair Isle |
£575 |
£890 |
£71 |
£119 |
£1,655 |
|
Irish Sea |
£576 |
£890 |
£97 |
£119 |
£1,682 |
|
Base Case Annual Pollution Prevention Benefit |
|||
Cost per tonne spilt |
Saved by ETV |
Prevention Benefit1 |
|
Dover Strait |
£1,133 |
271t |
£307,281 |
SW Approaches |
£1,312 |
273t |
£358165 |
The Minches |
£2,078 |
776t |
£1,612,559 |
Fair Isle |
£1,655 |
463t |
£766,635 |
Total 4 ETVs |
1,783t |
£3,044,640 |
|
Irish Sea |
£1,682 |
358t |
£602,084 |
Annual Values |
||
Safety Benefits |
Receipts |
|
Dover Strait |
£2,292,034 |
£285,648 |
SW Approaches |
£2,150,299 |
£285,648 |
The Minches |
£811,092 |
£228,516 |
Fair Isle |
£888,447 |
£228,516 |
Total 4 ETVs |
£6,141,872 |
£1,028,328 |
Irish Sea |
£1,261,852 |
£228,516 |
Recently – 2010
Following the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico, the UK energy secretary, Chris Huhne, said,
“The Deepwater Horizon gives us pause for thought and, given the beginning of exploration in deeper waters West of Shetland, there is every reason to increase our vigilance.”
It has been reported that officials in the UK department of energy and climate change (DECC) have reviewed the national system for preventing and responding to oil spills and said they found it to be “fit for purpose”.
On 20 October the UK government revealed the national “spending review”. As part of the review it is the intention of the government not to renew the contract for Emergency Towing Vessels around the UK potentially saving £32.5 million. The MCA said,
“The government believes state provision of emergency towing vessels does not represent a correct use of taxpayers’ money, and that ship salvage should be a commercial matter between a ship’s operator and the salvor.”
Shetland knows from experience (Esso Bernicia, Braer and other major incidents around the world), that pollution incidents, particularly large ones, usually have some or all of the following consequences:
Massive destruction of farmed fish and shellfish;
Loss of markets in the short and longer term;
Loss of product reputation built up over many decades;
Bankruptcies among boat owners, fish farm companies, processing factories, sales agents and local suppliers;
Unemployment among boat crews, fish farm workers, factory hands and employees of local suppliers;
Mental and physical illness caused to local people and cleanup workers ;
In addition, any spill gives an area massive bad publicity, which persists long after the oil has ceased to be visible;
A spill inevitably creates costs for local authorities and voluntary organisations that try to respond, often when they have no statutory duty to do so. These cost are often only partially compensated.
Questions
What assessment have the MCA undertaken into salvage capacity?
What formal risk assessment have the MCA undertaken into the effect of removing ETV’s from the North of Scotland, what is the result of this and what mitigating measures are the MCA proposing?
What has changed in the since the review of Emergency towing Vessel provision in 2000 which stated, “ETV cover in the existing geographical locations should be provided on a “Year-round basis”. The deployment of ETV coverage in the existing four geographical locations has been fully endorsed and should be maintained”
The tug could be tasked for other duties while still providing the essential cover around the UK. Has this been considered?
E.g.
Fishery Protection
UK Border Agency duties
Hydrographic surveys
Defence related work
Could the current contract be re-negotiated to become a more viable operation?
Escorting of vessels is currently done free of charge, has a charging structure and associate legal requirements been examined?
Can income from the Crown Estate be used to fund / partially fund the ETV?
Those Consulted:
Coastguard
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Highland Council
Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service
KIMO
Lerwick Port Authority
Lerwick Lifeboat
Members of the British Ports Association
Members of the UK Harbour Masters Association
Nautical Institute – Shetland Branch
Northern Constabulary
Orkney Islands Council – Marine Services
Scottish Ambulance Service
Shetland Aquaculture / Seafood Shetland
Shetland Fishermen’s Association
Shetland Islands Council – Economic Development
Shetland Islands Council – Emergency Planning & Resilience
Shetland Islands Council – Ferry Services
Shetland Islands Council – Ports & Harbours Operations
Details of which species are caught where are to be found in the Shetland Marine Atlas, Maps 1 & 2, at: http://www.nafc.ac.uk/WebData/Files/Part%20Two%20Marine%20Atlas.pdf
See two books by Dr Riki Ott, an Alaskan marine toxicologist who studied the health effects of the Exxon Valdez spill: Ott, R., 2005. Sound Truth & Corporate Myth$. Lorenzo Press - http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/sound_truth_and_corporate_myth/ and Ott, R., 2008. Not one Drop. Chelsea Green - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=b-TWppwB_RwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Riki+Ott&source=bl&ots=gMEPLzqHc5&sig=GV7-1x2D_O628ijPXeIZa40ZdMk&hl=en&ei=p5COTO_RHNS7jAfcgtWgBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=16&ved=0CFAQ6AEwDw#v=onepage&q&f=false