Carmichael raises local tanker concerns in Parliament following North Sea collision

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today in the House of Commons called for greater accountability from government agencies such as the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, during a ministerial statement on a major shipping collision off the coast of north-east England yesterday. 

Mr Carmichael raised frequent local concerns – raised previously with the Maritime Minister Mike Kane – about tankers sheltering in areas off the coast of Shetland in particular, despite these being marked as “areas to be avoided” for such vessels.

Thirty-six people were brought ashore after the Stena Immaculate tanker was hit by the container ship Solong off the East Yorkshire coast yesterday. One of the 14 crew members on the Solong remains missing and search-and-rescue operations have ended. It is reported that the cargo ship involved was carrying 15 containers of the toxic chemical sodium cyanide, while the tanker was carrying jet fuel for the US government, some of which is spilling into the North Sea.

Speaking in the House, Mr Carmichael said:

“It’s just over 32 years now since the MV Braer was grounded off Shetland, but for us, the memories are still very fresh. To those communities on the east coast of England that are braced for what may come, we know exactly how they will be feeling. 

“We may not know what happened here, but I think we can be pretty certain in saying that at some time, somewhere, something of this sort was going to happen, such is the nature of the way in which shipping is regulated and owned across the world. 

“In Shetland for years we have been warning about the dangers of tankers anchored right by our shoreline, others entering areas marked as ‘areas to be avoided’, but it is next to impossible to get any agency to take ownership of that fact.

“So can we use this moment, because I know the minister has concern about this, to think seriously about how we protect our coastal and island communities in the future?”

Responding for the government, the Minister for Maritime, Mike Kane MP said:

“Can I think the Rt. Hon. Gentleman and for his expertise, and he has raised the tankers moored off Shetland and Orkney in my office. I understand that the 1972 Collision Regulations absolutely state that there has to be proper lookout, there has to be sight and sound lookout and all other methods, so something has gone wrong here. 

“As difficult as it is to say, accidents always provide an opportunity to see how we can do things better going forward, so I’m hoping that when the Marine Accident and Investigation Branch come back, both with its initial findings and its substantive findings, which will come to my desk, that we can learn the lessons of this accident.”

Reacting after the exchange, Mr Carmichael said:

“Anyone who lives on the east coast of Shetland in particular will have seen the looming presence of tankers moored far too close to shore, and the fact that they often linger in ‘areas to be avoided’ is an open secret. I am glad that the minister seems open to further action but we really do need to see a bit more enforcement and accountability from government agencies now – no more passing the buck.”