Highland Council leader demands safety tug for west
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HIGHLAND Council’s leader has renewed calls for ETVs (emergency towing vessels) to be reinstated after a meeting with the Secretary of State for Scotland.
The meeting to discuss the provision of ETVs came in the wake of several recent maritime incidents including the grounding of a vessel at Kilchoan off the Ardnamurchan peninsula and a fire on board the MV Parida, which was carrying radioactive waste, in the Moray Firth.
Cllr Drew Hendry said: "We had some positive discussions about the possible use of different types of vessels and we are very willing to be involved in discussions about the future.
"The issue just now however, is that we are exposed to serious risks, without the presence of an ETV in the west.
"Only this weekend, we had yet another incident of a large vessel grounding off Corpach. This is the latest in a long string of recent maritime incidents, including the vessel at Kilchoan and the MV Parida.
"These, now frequent, incidents highlight yet another warning about the very serious risks around our coastal waters. This clearly underlines the need to put in place adequate safety measures now, to respond to any future incidents which could have much more serious consequences than we have luckily seen to date.
"It is vital to be able to respond to incidents quickly in order to protect lives and minimise the risk of environmental damage. Therefore, I am insisting that there is an immediate reinstatement of adequate safety measures in the west."
