Ship to ship oil transfers and Trust Port accountability continues to be under Scottish Parliament Committee scrutiny

John Finnie MSP today (22/06/2017) welcomed the decision of the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee to keep Cromarty Rising’s petition on Ship-to-ship oil transfers and trust port accountability open.

Mr Finnie, who has been campaigning on this issue for well over a year, spoke in favour of the petition at the committee meeting - calling for greater clarity around responsibilities relating to ship to ship transfers.

Commenting after the committee John Finnie said:

“I am pleased that the Public Petitions Committee decided to further investigate this matter. There is clearly much confusion over the process for ship to ship oil applications and I am hopeful that further scrutiny will provide much needed clarity.

“The Scottish Government have adopted a ‘nothing to do with us’ approach to this issue yet there are clear roles for SEPA, SNH and Marine Scotland – all Scottish Government agencies – to play in the process.

“There also remains concerns that a response prepared by Marine Scotland was stymied by Ministers. This is deeply concerning and requires further scrutiny.”