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.

Highland councillors call for return of emergency tug

The MV Parida
The MV Parida

Highland councillors have called for the reinstatement of an emergency tug in the Western Isles after a fire on board a boat carrying nuclear waste through north waters.

The MV Parida lost power and was left drifting in the North Sea 20 miles off Wick during the incident on October 7.

The Beatrice oil platform had to be evacuated as a precaution.

The Kirkwall emergency towing vessel (ETV) was called out but Danish owners of the Parida agreed a commercial tow with another vessel, the Pacific Champion.

The incident has highlighted the vulnerability of the north, and in particular the west coast, if a similar incident happened.

The Western Isles ETV was removed several years ago when the UK government removed funding.

The incident also comes as the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is due to start shipments of nuclear material from Scrabster to Sellafield, using the Pentland Firth and the Minches.

The council’s business manager Kate Lackie also said that there had been other incidents involving boats in and around the Pentland Firth.

Councillors unanimously agreed to lobby the government to reinstate the tug and make a commitment to fund the Kirkwall tug beyond 2016.

Council leader Drew Hendry said that the two vessels were “absolutely essential” to protect the region.

He added: “Recent events strengthen the case further and highlight the importance of the need to urgently address this risk. The incident in early October of a fire on the MV Parida resulted in the vessel losing power whilst carrying a shipment of nuclear material close to our shores.

“This type of incident is a reality, which not only puts lives of those at sea at risk, but exposes our coastal communities to unnecessary risk also. I want to make a very clear point that this is the position of the Highlands and Islands Authorities. It is imperative that this matter is addressed as a matter of urgency.”

Councillor Allan Henderson said: “This type of material should not be going near the Minches.”

Councillor George Farlow said: “No nuclear resources should go through without a tug in place.”