Calls to reintroduce west coast emergency tug

The 299ft Fri Sea was refloated at the weekend. It went aground during docking. Picture: Fort William Coastguards

Dr Michael Foxley, a former councillor who led a failed crusade to stop the government from scrapping a tug patrolling the Minches, spoke out as a large cargo ship was refloated near his home near Fort William.

Dr Foxley said it was ironic the latest incident involving the Fri Sea happened “basically at the bottom of my croft”.

Although there were no injuries or pollution, he claims the latest episodes highlighted how Scotland’s coast was at risk of a potential environmental disaster.

He described the UK government’s 2011 decision to scrap an emergency towing vessel (ETV) based in Stornoway as “short-sighted”.

An ETV serving the northern isles, the Herakles based in Orkney, was saved following a campaign, but Dr Foxley said: “Until the Minches tug is reinstated then the whole of the west coast and critical industries are at threat. We have just been lucky that the latest groundings have not been more serious. But how long with the luck last?

“An example of how the tugs can save the environment and jobs was the grounding of a granite cargo ship (the Yeoman Bontrup) at Loch Linnhe, having visited Glensanda Superquarry. A fire on board was put out by the crew of the ETV, at a time the fuel tanks were close to exploding.

“There was 900 tons of fuel on board, which would have flowed into Loch Linnhe and destroyed the environment, which included salmon farms, shellfish farms, and so on.

“At least £100million worth of damage was saved thanks to the tug. We had been campaigning long before the Braer oil tanker disaster off Shetland, but that led to Lord Donaldson recommending the introduction of tugs. For the government to remove them was shocking.”

The Minch tug was scrapped as part of a plan to decommission all four tugs operating around the UK coast in 2011. The tugs were based in Falmouth, Dover, the Northern Isles and Western Isles and chartered by the Marine and Coastguard Agency for use in pollution control and towing vessels in difficulty. They were introduced after the Donaldson Inquiry into the grounding of the Braer in Shetland in 2003.

Defending the scrapping of the tugs at the time, the government said it should be the responsibility of companies and their insurers for the salvage and clean-up of stricken vessels.

The latest incident happened at Corpach, clost to Fort William in Lochaber.

Stornoway Coastguard was contacted by the 299ft long cargo vessel Fri Sea just before noon on Saturday, reporting that they had gone aground during docking manoeuvres.

The 2,600 tonne vessel was berthing to collect a cargo from a wood pulp mill when a strong gust of wind is believed to have caused problems. It was refloated on Sunday evening. There were no injuries and no reports of damage.

The Lysblink Seaways, carrying paper from Belfast to Norway, ran aground near Ardnamurchan Point on 18 February 18. It was later refloated. The large fish carrier Viktoria Lady went aground at Badcall in Sutherland on 20 February.