Tug of war breaks out as hopes of saving emergency vessels are sunk

Contracts for the emergency towing vessels (ETVs) – the Anglian Earl in the Minch and the Anglian Sovereign off Orkney and Shetland – are due to end on 30 September.

The shipping minister, Mike Penning, has indicated he will consider extending the contract for the tug operating from Stornoway by up to six weeks if a working group can demonstrate alternative future funding.

But in a response to a Transport Select Committee inquiry, the Department for Transport (DfT) said it continues to believe that responsibility for ensuring the operational safety of ships is a matter for the commercial shipping industry in partnership with the tug and salvage industries. It said: “The government has had to take difficult decisions as part of its wider strategy to reduce the fiscal deficit, and it is simply not appropriate for the taxpayer to underwrite a responsibility on operators.”

The DfT said the waters off the Shetland and Orkney can be reached within reasonable time by tugs that operate at Sullom Voe or by vessels that service the offshore industry to the west of Shetland.

It said the situation off the Western Isles is different because no suitable commercial tugs operate in the area. However, it is up to the working group to respond to the challenge of having an ETV continue without government funds, it said.

Yesterday, Angus Campbell, leader of Western Isles Council, maintained that plans had already been outlined to the government for alternative funding to come from Crown Estate revenues, the Ministry of Defence and the Scottish Government.

However, he said only central government, and not local authorities, could put these into practice. He said: “It is disappointing that the minister does not seem to recognise the case we have made. We have clearly outlined possible sources of funding for the provision of emergency tugs but we will emphasise these avenues to the minister.”

The working group is also to carry out its own risk assessment into the loss of the vessels in the hope of getting the contracts extended.

Shetland Island Council’s convener Sandy Cluness dismissed the possibility of emergency towage cover being provided by the council’s tugs based at Sullom Voe. He said: “This is clearly a non-starter. The government seems to be missing the point that our tugs are not ocean-going vessels. Although there’s no question our tugs would help a vessel in distress, the fundamental issue here is that they are not equipped to cope with the range of shipping that we have passing through Shetland’s waters.”

MPs have also expressed concern at the government’s refusal to continue the two Scottish tugs which each cost about £3 million a year to run.

Committee chair Louise Ellman said: “I am very disappointed that the government still intends not to renew the contract for emergency towing vessels.

“These vessels protect our shores from pollution and we are not convinced that suitable commercial alternatives exist.”

The committee has previously said scrapping the tugs is “unwise and short-sighted” and was “quite literally inviting disaster”.

It said savings made by ending the contract would be wiped out by just one major accident.