Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Business as usual’ as Russian tanker berthed at Sullom Voe

The crude oil tanker NS Challenger will be in the port of Rotterdam on July 18, 2020.; Shutterstock ID 1795159888; purchase_order: ; job: ; 8cad3558-3fe4-46cb-8a79-3e43cfeb155a
The crude oil tanker NS Challenger will be in the port of Rotterdam on July 18, 2020.; Shutterstock ID 1795159888; purchase_order: ; job: ; 8cad3558-3fe4-46cb-8a79-3e43cfeb155a

Isles MP Alistair Carmichael said he is at a loss as to how to respond to some of his constituents who have been in touch wondering why a tanker operated by Russian state-owned company Sovcomflot is allowed to load oil at Sullom Voe Terminal on the same day Russia has invaded Ukraine.

Speaking in parliament on Thursday afternoon, ahead of prime minister Boris Johnson’s statement in response to the Russian invasion, Carmichael said something that seemed unthinkable for his generation, an armed conflict in the centre of continental Europe, has now become “a very real possibility”.

And he blamed the UK and Western European governments for sending out the wrong signals since at least the Russian annexation of the Crimea in 2014.

He said the Russian government had clearly understood that despite some sanctions announced on Tuesday it was “business and usual”, and the Russian tanker currently berthing at oil port of Sullom Voe was testament of that.

Business as usual?

The 244 metre NS Challenger, registered in Liberia, is part of a large fleet of tankers owned and operated by Sovcomflot, one of the world’s largest players in the oil and gas transportation business.

The company is majority-owned by the Russian government. The company’s board of management is reported to be close to the Russian presidential administration.

Sullom Voe Terminal

The NS Challenger is on charter to BP and is due to take a cargo of crude to the Swedish port of Brefjorden. BP did not respond to a request for comment when contacted on Thursday morning.

Mr Carmichael said: “What does that tell us? It tells us that everything that the government has said this week has been heard in Russia, has been understood in simple terms of saying it is business as usual.

“Why on earth, my constituents ask me, are we exporting a strategically important commodity such as oil out of Shetland at the moment in Russian owned and operated tankers, and I do not know what answer I can give them, other than the fact that we have continued even at the eleventh hour and 59th minute to send the wrong signals.”

Wrong signals

Shetland Islands Council (SIC) chief executive Maggie Sandison said the council, as port operator, had no choice by to comply with its “open port duty” which means “that the harbour must be open to anyone for the shipping and unshipping of goods and the embarking and landing of passengers, on payment of the harbour dues.”

She added: “If the UK Government determine that their sanctions will apply to shipping, the council will be advised by the Department of Transport how the duty has been altered and what action we must take.

“The owners and charterer of vessels will I am sure, be considering their exposure to increased sanctions and make decisions about how best to manage those risks but this is not a matter for the council to be engaging on.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Speaking in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mr Carmichael added: “Putin has built up a reported reserve in the region of $640 billion, so it is clear that he will be able to withstand economic sanctions for some time, and I don’t think we should overestimate the opportunities that they bring.

“I like many people find myself here in a difficult contest between what my head and my heart tells me.

“My head tells me that we have seen all this before; my head tells me that despots using foreign policy to distract attention from problems at home (…); my head tell me that history tells us that appeasement never works.

“But at the same time my heart says that this risks taking us to a place where you have armed conflict in continental Europe, something which I as somebody born in 1965, brought up through the 70s and 80s believed would be something that was just something that was impossible and unthinkable. But now we need to confront the reality of that very real possibility.”