Another maritime incident has caused great concern and highlighted the lack of cover of an Emergency Towing vessel in the region.

West coast communities have been consistently making the point that it is essential to have an ETV (Emergency Towing vessel) based in the Hebrides in addition to the tug in the Northern Isles. The current tug, stationed in the Northern Isles, was tasked with attending an emergency early in the evening. However, with an 18 hour transit time, there was no chance of successful intervention. If this had been a laden tanker, there would have been a catastrophe.”