Firth of Forth concern of future oil transfers
While the prospect of hovercraft flitting across the Firth of Forth is probably not associated with any particular environmental concerns, there were definite fears for the impact on the Fife coastline, and the economy of the area a few weeks ago, when the Forth Ports Authority decided to reject an application by SPT Marine Services to allow ship to ship oil transfers in the firth. The Port Authority withdrew its earlier support for the application after consideration of the risks involved - the transfers would have involved the pumping of some 7.8 million tonnes of crude oil between ships moored in the firth.
Although this individual decision has seen the end of this particular application, there are no regulations or legal procedures in place to stop any future applications being made, and councillors in Fife have said they will continue to seek the implementation Government legislation and regulations to make the application process for such activities more stringent, and in accord with European directives.
