The grounding of a large cargo ship off the West Highlands shows it is just a matter of time till there is a major environmental or human tragedy off the west coast, it is claimed.
The 423ft long vessel Lysblink Seaways vessel with nine on board had left Belfast and was for Skogn in Norway when she got into difficulty and went on the rocks near Ardnamurchan Point, close to the village Kilchoan at about 1.50am yesterday (wed)
Nobody was injured and the ship, which is carrying paper, is not thought to be in any immediate danger or present a pollution threat.
However Dr Michael Foxley, the former local councillor and leader of the Highland Council was concerned. He has been campaigning for the return of an emergency coastguard tug to Stornoway, but he had learnt that the coastguard emergency towing vessel ordered to help, hadn't left Orkney till 7am.
Two emergency tugs, were introduced on the recommendation of Lord Donaldson's report into the grounding of the tanker the Braer on Shetland in 1993. One was based in Shetland one in Stornoway in Lewis. But in 2012 the UK Government announced there would only be public finding for one which would be based in Orkney. Dr Foxley and the Highland Council have long argued this is a recipe for disaster on the west coast.
He said "It's all very well them saying she was only carrying paper, but she could easily have been carrying a hazardous cargo. We have had a ship with nuclear waste lose power in the Pentland Firth; a nuclear submarine go aground in the Kyle of Lochalsh; a bulk carrier go on fire alongside the Glensanda superquarry pier. Some time there will be an environmental catastrophe on the west coast or a human tragedy and we will be left wringing our hands."
He said the Lysblink Seaways had run aground on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula at around 2am. "But the emergency towing vessel Heracles did not leave Orkney till five hours later. If there had still be a tug in Stornoway it could have got to Kilchoan before the Heracles had even left Orkney. But if a Stornoway-based tug was already half way down the Minches, it would have got there before high tide at four or five o'clock in the morning. It would have been able to pull it off the rocks."
He said "This episode shows that we not only need a tug in Stornoway, we also need a Scottish coastguard agency."
A spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said she could not comment on when the Heracles had left Orkney.
Meanwhile the Highland Council and MCA sent counter-pollution equipment to the scene following a small leak from vessel, estimated to be an egg cup in volume, It has created a light sheen of about 2m by 2m..
A small tug based in Mallaig loaded with diving equipment was due to head to the site. Another larger tug Kingdom of Fife was also expected to arrive
The Lysblink Seaways is the second vessel owned by European shipping company DFDS, to have gone aground in the area. In 2001 the Lysfoss went on rocks also near the northwesterd end of the Sound of Mull.
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