Campaigners claim victory as Forth oil transfer plan is sunk

Published on Saturday 26 January 2008 09:52

CAMPAIGNERS today claimed victory in their bid to block ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Forth.

City Labour MP Mark Lazarowicz announced he was dropping his Private Member's Bill to change the law on marine oil transfers after Shipping Minister Jim Fitzpatrick pledged to bring forward new regulations.

And the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said if the Government stuck to its promise, plans to pump millions of tonnes of crude oil between tankers anchored in the Firth of Forth were unlikely to get the go-ahead.

Mr Lazarowicz introduced his Environmental Protection (Transfers at Sea) Bill after winning eighth place in the annual ballot for Private Member's Bills. His move was prompted by the controversy over proposals by SPT Marine Services to transfer about 7.8 million tonnes of Russian crude oil every year between tankers anchored in the Forth.

But he said he had decided to withdraw the Bill after an undertaking from the minister in the House of Commons yesterday.

Mr Fitzpatrick said: "We have been working for some time on producing regulations under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1995 to control ship-to-ship oil transfers within UK territorial waters and to ensure any such transfers are subject to appropriate environmental scrutiny."

He said there would be a consultation in the spring and the regulations should go before parliament in the summer. The regulations are expected to spell out which types of cargo would be subject to control, where ship-to-ship transfers may or may not be carried out and what environmental protection measures could be taken.

A spokesman for the RSPB, key backers of Mr Lazarowicz's Bill, said: "If they do what they say, it's unlikely ship-to-ship transfers in the Forth would be allowed."

The Scottish Parliament last year agreed to give ministers new powers to put a brake on such transfers, but they only covered sites officially protected for wildlife.

Mr Lazarowicz's Bill would have imposed more general controls on the transfer of any hazardous material between ships in inshore UK waters.

Mr Lazarowicz said: "If successful, my Bill would have seen regulations brought forward towards the end of the year.

"The Government's pledge will see these brought in earlier, even though there will still be discussion to follow on the regulations."