COASTGUARD ACCUSED OF COURTING FIRTH DISASTER

A North marine safety campaigner has accused Coastguard chiefs of courting disaster after they knocked back plans to improve the monitoring of shipping through the Pentland Firth.

According to Shetland-based Jonathan Wills, no lessons have been learned from the near-grounding of a blazing chemical tanker off Dunnet Head two years ago.

"Unfortunately, it looks like we're going to require a big, messy disaster before we get meaningful action," he said yesterday.

He was responding to the announcement that the Marine Coastguard Agency had ruled out moves to enforce a compulsory reporting-in system for ships passing through the firth.

They have also knocked back a plea for the firth – one of the most dangerous stretches of the British coastline – to be covered by radar.

The MCA says the proposals are unnecessary given the new regulations coming in to enforce the use of transponders, which automatically transmit the identity of vessels.

The results of a survey carried out in 1999 led to politicians, councillors and safety campaigners on both sides of the firth calling for tighter controls on the hazardous cargoes which routinely pass between Caithness and Orkney.

It found that only half the masters of the oil and chemical tankers plying the firth notified coastguards in advance.

The lowest uptake was from the masters of crude-oil tankers, 53% of whom failed to report in.

The poor compliance with the voluntary Marine Reporting Scheme led Mr Wills, among others, to call for a mandatory reporting system backed up by radar cover.

The concern deepened after the near-grounding of the blazing chemical tanker Ascania in March, 1999.

The newly-released MCA report concludes: "Calls for mandatory ship reporting or dedicated radar surveillance could not be supported. This is due to the imminent phased-in introduction of the automatic identification systems."

The on-board transponders are the subject of new regulations brought in by the International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea.

The new law will require the devices to be fitted aboard ships on a rolling programme between 2002 and 2008, dependent on their type, size and age.

The MCA says this will greatly improve monitoring of traffic in stretches of coastline not covered by radar.

Dr Wills, who campaigned against the recent closure of the rescue sub-centre at Kirkwall, supports the introduction of transponders.

But he claims the Coastguard stations at Shetland and Aberdeen lack the equipment to receive signals from transponders. Mr Wills, who sits on a Department of Transport marine safety sub-committee, has been pressing not only for mandatory reporting-in, but for compulsory pilotage and escorting of hazardous cargoes through the firth.