We’ ve just been reading that nicely produced CFPA Ship to Ship update produced in November last year. We’ve let the port off lightly on that one and haven’t really gone to town on taking it part as there have been so many other issues to deal with! Anyway, let us quote from it:
“The Port of Cromarty Firth is a Trust Port, which means that you, as a member of the Firth’s community, are a valued stakeholder in the organisation. As a result, it is imperative that you have access to the full facts about this project. In this document we will lay out the facts, including the history of ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Cromarty Firth, the reasons the Port has applied for this licence, how ship-to-ship oil transfers work and the safeguards that are in place to protect our special marine environment.”
A noble aim, facts are good. The very next paragraph reads:
“Ship-to-ship oil transfers have taken place safely in the Cromarty Firth for over 30 years.
The Port of Cromarty Firth has been actively involved in the safe handling of oil tankers since the early 1980s when the Nigg Oil Terminal (NOT) was constructed in support of the Beatrice offshore oilfield development. Since the NOT was constructed, more than 350 movements of Beatrice oil have occurred from shore-to-ship and over 250 ship-to-ship oil transfers. Accordingto NOT’s records, more than 175 million barrels of oil have been safely transferred from the Beatrice field into tankers and shipped to global markets.”
Unbelievable – after promising to “lay out the facts” – it immediately starts with “alternative facts” – here is the fact of it. Ship to ship oil transfers have taken place relatively safely at Nigg Oil Terminal jetty for last 30 years – these have not been without incident but thankfully no major incident. Yes, technically this is in the Cromarty Firth but it is certainly not in the middle of the Cromarty Firth SAC on top of the area supporting the highest density of bottlenose dolphins. Well, thats what happens when you employ media consultants specialising in crisis management – they choose how to bend and distort the truth and to present a portion of the story to look like its something else entirely. Well, we have news for you Mr Buskie, the public, your stakeholders are not stupid so treating us like we are. If you insist on making a new application, tell it like it is. “We would like to transfer 8 times as much oil as was transferred at Nigg oil terminal jetty in the open sea in the middle of the area protected for its importance for dolphins.”
Does anyone disagree with that?
Actually in that same paragraph there is another post-truth statement :
“The Port of Cromarty Firth has been actively involved in the safe handling of oil tankers since the early 1980s when the Nigg Oil Terminal (NOT) was constructed in support of the Beatrice offshore oilfield development…”
As it was pointed out to us but other stakeholders who are closely involved in the Port – the CFPA have NEVER undertaken a ship to ship or any other kind of oil transfer at Nigg. Yes, they hold the licence, however, all they do is provide pilots for the tankers and take a fee. The tugs are provided by independent providers and the actual STS process is handled and supervised by employees of Wood Group – they have the experience and not the Port Authority. However it will be the port authority and NOT the experience staff at Nigg Oil Terminal that supervise STS at sea. Let just be clear about that Mr Buskie.
