Council Final Plea To Save Emergency Towing Vessels

13th July 2011

Urgent plea over proposed removal of emergency towing vessels

The Leader of The Highland Council, Councillor Michael Foxley, has renewed his call on the UK Government to delay for six months the withdrawal of emergency towing vessels around the UK shoreline pending consideration of new income-generating proposals presented by the task force he chairs.

Believing an announcement is imminent, Councillor Foxley has written again to Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox and Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman urging a reprieve for the four emergency towing vessels, two of which are based in the Highlands and Islands.

He said the withdrawal in September will leave the Royal Navy with a serious gap in capability in the event of an emergency involving one of their ships in the critical areas covered by the ETVs.

He said: "The area covered by the Falmouth ETV is the main surface vessel proving and training area for the UK. As the entire UK nuclear and hunter killer submarine fleet enters and exits from the north and west coast of Scotland and is also a critical training area for both the Navy and NATO, the ETVs located in Stornoway and Shetland are ideally situated to respond to an emergency as was demonstrated when HMS Astute was aground at Kyle in 2010. It has been confirmed that the only vessels that the SOSREP can direct are the ETVs.

"The UK Parliament's Transport Committee Chairman said that "the Government's decision to withdraw funding for the ETV's is unwise and short-sighted - quite literally, it is inviting disaster". Without this capability, the Royal Navy's surface and submarine fleet will have no effective rescue vessels if they are in trouble in UK waters."