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UK shipping minister Mike Penning has been presented with a dossier opposing the axing of Stornoway coastguard station.

 

Mr Penning received the consultation response when he toured the base in a whirlwind trip to the Western Isles and Shetland today (wed).

 

Mr Penning said it was “a breath of fresh air to meet frontline staff” at the Stornoway base and observe the extent of their responsibility for the west coast and Atlantic seaboard of Scotland.

 

Campaigners pressed home how the complexity of the work involving covering lengthy, long range, emergencies over several hours often in atrocious conditions far out at sea compared to the short quick fixes for a higher number of less significant incidents in the south of England.

 

If Stornoway disappears then there will be a stark gap of a maritime rescue base on the entire Scottish west coast and on the Atlantic seaboard.

 

In his discussions with watch officers Mr Penning pressed that “it’s not a done deal and please be part of the consultation.”                

He said was “listening to what’s going on - meeting people on the frontline is important.”

 

Mr Penning pointed out that all serving coastguard officers he met on his tour of all the UK threatened centres agree with the need for modernisation and accepted a reduction in the number of stations.

 

He highlighted the coalition government inherited the proposals from the previous Labour administration.

 

The need for resilience was important across the UK service pointing out that Stornoway, unlike other coastguard centres had no paired partner  station meaning: “This station is stand alone. There is no back up if this station goes down.”

 

He accepted that local knowledge was important and  his initial statement that the new network would have appropriate watch staff who would understand Gaelic pronunciations and local place names was qualified by saying,  “other emergency services have addressed this for years.”

 

 

 

 

 

Shipping Minister meets coastguards at threatened base         16/3/11

Mr Penning vehemently denied that the brief was skewed so Stornoway was deliberately pitched to fight for survival against Shetland though the consultation document proposes axing one of them while the other would only be partially saved as a part-time base with jobs cuts at both locations.

 

Me Penning insisted: We have not set up anyone against anyone.”

 

He also said it was unfair and grossly expensive for taxpayers to shoulder the financial burden of operating the four coastguard tugs stationed around the UK, including Shetland and Stornoway, when private shipping receives the safety and salvage service for free

 

Mr Penning said: “It costs £10 million a year - a huge amount of money. We are taking tankers through the Minch for free.“

 

He believes a private shipping company would fill the gap by installing a commercial tug to charge for escort pilotage through the sea strait, often used by gigantic oil tankers, between the Hebrides and the Scottish mainland.

 

Highland, Shetland and Western Isles councils fear the environmental and financial price of cleaning up an oil spill disaster outweighs the cost of the preventative measure of shadowing vessels with dangerous cargoes.

 

Mr Penning was catching the Aberdeen flight and heading to Lerwick Coastguards this afternoon fulfilling his promise to visit all the UK’s threatened coastguard stations.

Shipping minister Mike Penning on his visit to Stornoway coastguards

Coastguard Jamie Ralston watches on as colleague Murdo Macaulay shakes hands with the shipping minister