THE case for ship to ship (STS) oil transfers at the Cromarty Firth – never very strong to begin with – has been weakened further by the release of Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) papers.

Earlier this year, it told local port officials to resubmit an application which appears to have been lacking.

It failed to pay sufficient heed to the potential risk to Scotland’s only resident pod of bottlenose dolphins. It failed, indeed, to explain why such oil transfers were necessary, particularly given a safer alternative exists at Nigg terminal’s jetty. Oil spill modelling failed to reflect the full range of weather, wind and tidal factors. Even its worst case scenario appears to have been minimised.

 

We may take on board the views of some experienced seamen that STS risks are minimal – in general – but a comprehensive case regarding all contingencies in this most sensitive of maritime areas must be provided. This is a project that would involve 48 transfers, 576 vessel movements and 8.6 million tonnes of oil a year.

 

Given that scale of the operation, the revelation that responding to any spill in the firth could take four hours, during which oil might reach an important bird colony, is deeply worrying. This application needs to be properly thought out. As it stands, it’s unsurprising community campaigners and environmental organisations want it thrown out.