Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will suspend the process of determining the application for the licence for ship-to-ship transfers in the Cromarty Firth until he has formally consulted Marine Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
There are no valid reasons to suspend the process of determining the application for an Oil Transfer licence for ship to ship transfers in the Cromarty Firth.
Officials from Marine Scotland were sent the application details and information by email on 9 December 2015. A reminder about the deadline for comments on this application was sent to the same officials by email on 3 February, five days before the end of the extended consultation period.
A Marine Scotland official confirmed to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on 11 February that they had seen the information and had no intention of submitting a response.
Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department plans to hold with colleagues in the Scottish Government on the environmental proposal for ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Cromarty firth.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Port of Cromarty Firth Oil Transfer Licence (OTL) application, which ran from 10 December 2015 to 8 February 2016 was sent to Scottish Government officials directly through Marine Scotland, and to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), and the Highland Council, in order to seek their views.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is the Competent Authority that assesses all applications for OTLs, and the MCA has regular contact with the Scottish Government and their appropriate officials on a number of issues, including ship-to-ship licencing. The MCA has worked closely with them on previous OTL applications and the development of the policy itself.
With the public consultation having just ended, the assessment phase will begin and the MCA looks forward to continuing this cooperation in relation to the Cromarty Firth proposal, prior to any decision being made.