THE risk to marine life has not been included in plans to transfer crude oil between tankers at one of the most important sites for dolphins in Europe, regulators have said.

It also could take four hours to respond effectively to any oil spill at the mouth of the Cromarty Firth, according to internal briefing papers now released by the Southampton-based Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

In that time the oil would have beached on the nearby land, which includes an internationally important bird colony.

The MCA was responding to an application from the Cromarty Firth Port Authority (CFPA) for up to nine million tonnes a year in ship to ship transfers in open water. The area of sea in question is part of a European designated Special Area of Conservation because it is part of the feeding grounds of the only resident pod of bottlenose dolphins in Scotland and is home to other important wildlife.

Earlier this year, the MCA asked the port authority to withdraw its application and submit another.

The MCA’s numerous environmental and safety issues are now revealed for the first time. An MSP said they vindicate the local communities’ opposition.

Crucially, the MCA said the purpose of wanting to carry out the oil transfers at all “is not explained”.

It pointed out ship to ship operations were already carried between tankers lying alongside the nearby Nigg Oil terminal jetty “and no reason has been given why these cannot continue”.

“These have considerably less risk than STS at anchor, both as regards the probability of an incident and as a consequence from the oil spills,” the MCA said.

It did not accept, as the application suggested, the worst case scenario was that only one metric tonne would be released in an oil spill.

It questioned whether the appropriate equipment was available in the Cromarty Firth, and said the Oil Spill Contingency Plan (OSCP) showed the necessary response would be operational in four hours – “this timing is unacceptable due to the proximity of land and the need to contain and recover any spill very quickly,” the MCA said.

Meanwhile, the importance of the area for the dolphins was not fully recognised “and needs significantly more detailed assessment”, the MCA insisted.

“The physical risk to marine mammals from the proposed STS operations does not appear to have been considered at all,”

it added.

The MCA calculated the port authority’s plan would have involved 576 vessel movements a year, John Finnie, Scottish Greens MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said: “This complacency from the CFPA shows local communities were right to raise serious concerns over the proposals.

“No consideration was given to the potential consequences of a spill. CFPA’s failure to even acknowledge the potential scale of any leak is seriously concerning, as is the complete absence of any contingency measures.”

A spokeswoman for the Port of Cromarty Firth said: “We will be submitting a revised application addressing the points raised by the MCA.”