By Bruce Fegen

CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSALS to transfer million of tonnes of Russian crude oil between ships off the Fife coast have been rejected.

In a surprise announcement yesterday, Forth Ports plc said it was not proceeding with an application to carry out ship-to-ship (STS) oil transfers in the estuary.

Forth Ports group chief executive Charles Hammond insisted that although STS was feasible, it had been decided not to go ahead because of the uncertainty surrounding the scope of the proposed project.

The unexpected move was warmly welcomed by the many groups and individuals who had campaigned against the plans since The Courier first revealed them in March 2005.

They had argued that threat of an environmental disaster from a major spillage outweighed the limited economic benefits.

Fife Council described it as “the best ever news that Fife could ever have received,” while Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said, “This is the right decision for Scotland and the right decision for Forth Ports.”

Plans to carry out the transfer of almost eight million tonnes of Russian crude oil into ultra-large tankers off Methil for onward shipping to the United States and the Far East first came to light three years ago.

The proposal by Melbourne Marine (now SPT Marine Services) of Sunderland was designed to save a day’s sailing and an early assessment predicted it could create more than 30 jobs and generate £45 million for the Fife economy over 10 years.

But this was quickly discounted by bodies such as Fife Council and, as fears that a spillage could cause a catastrophe grew, a massive campaign against the proposal was mounted.

The issue was raised at Holyrood, Westminster and Brussels, but it became clear that as the harbours authority for the estuary, Forth Ports—which had at one stage declared the proposal “inherently safe”—alone had the power to decide on the application.

The company was subjected to immense pressure to reject it but when the Marine and Coastguard Agency approved a revised oil spill contingency plan for the Firth of Forth, many feared the proposal would be given the go-ahead.

There had been no inkling of yesterday’s announcement and it clearly came as a surprise.

Mr Hammond said, “In our role as the harbour authority for the Firth of Forth we have a statutory duty to assess all applications to undertake commercial activity on the river.

“We believe our appropriate assessment exercise is one of the most thorough and comprehensive ever carried out.

“We have used both internal expertise and independent expert advisers, taking into account all safety and environmental considerations and have undertaken one of the most extensive consultation exercises ever carried out in the UK.”

As part of its commitment to transparency and collaboration, Forth Ports has posted the findings of the assessment and other relevant studies on its website and is inviting comments and observations from interested parties.

Mr Hammond added, “This assessment clearly demonstrates that, taking into account the extremely high safety stipulations which would be placed on any vessels and the extensive support operations, STS is feasible in the Firth of Forth and could be undertaken without any adverse impact on the integrity of the environment, a paramount factor in any such exercise.

“However, given the uncertainty surrounding the scope of the proposed project, we have decided that this application is not in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.”

He concluded, “We are committed to participating fully in the forthcoming consultation exercise on STS which will be launched shortly by the UK Government and hope our research will prove useful in helping to formulate any new national policies.”