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Ship to ship oil transfer
01/02/2008
Scottish Ministers today welcomed the decision of Forth Ports plc not to proceed with ship to ship transfers of oil in the Firth of Forth.
Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said,
"The Scottish Government joins the communities of the Firth of Forth in warmly welcoming this decision by Forth Ports.
"The decision against this specific proposal for ship to ship transfers of oil in the Firth of Forth will be welcomed by all those who have campaigned against the proposal.
"This is the right decision for Scotland and the right decision for Forth Ports. I am pleased that they made this balanced judgement. I am grateful to Forth Ports for their constructive engagement with the Scottish Government and with the Scottish Parliament on this issue.
"In particular, I applaud their decision to publish the detailed technical assessment. In the light of their decision not to proceed, this will be for public information only. I have little doubt that the extensive investigations conducted by Forth Harbour Authority will be of interest to people living in the area.
"In a separate development, I am pleased that the UK Government have finally accepted the case, put forward by the Scottish Government, with the unanimous support of the Scottish Parliament, to bring forward a revised regulatory framework for ship to ship oil transfers across the UK and I look forward to seeing the detail of this.
"I will be happy to work with the UK Government on their consultation process on general regulations around this issue that has promised by the Department of Transport Ministers."