Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-02-09.

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.

Mr 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.