Bill Fernie says emergency tug cover is vital
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THE Government needs only to look at the number of incidents in the northern seas to realise the importance of retaining emergency tug services.
That was the view of Wick councillor Bill Fernie who welcomed the news that the UK Government has offered a three-month reprieve for services based in Stornoway and Shetland.
It had proposed ending the contract on Friday, saying the safety of vessels and salvage operations was the responsibility of the commercial shipping industry.
It was expected withdrawing these services from the Northern and Western Isles and the south coast of England would save £32 million over four years.
But on Friday night it was announced that the Government had found £3m to provide temporary funding until the end of the year.
Mr Fernie said that it is vital that these services are retained to prevent potential disaster occurring in the future.
"We’ve had near disasters in Caithness of a chemical nature which could have meant environmental catastrophe," he said. "If the worst did happen, the cost of the clean-ups would have been enormous.
"It is like having breakdown insurance for your motor car, the one day you need it is the one day it pays for itself."
Read more in tomorrow’s
Caithness Courier
