“The evidence I have at the moment from five years of operating under the single emergency towing vessel around Scotland is that one has been adequate. It has been used on five occasions over the five years.”
Sir Massey pointed out the stricken rig already had a large tug (MV Alp Forward) which was “bigger than ours” right beside yet it could not reconnect the line in the heavy seas.
The transport select committee was carrying out an evidence session into the Transocean incident at the request of MP Angus MacNeil.
Mr MacNeil said: “It was not surprising to hear the comments from the MCA regarding the ETV provision, they do after all work for the UK Government.
“When the MCA had two vessels operating in Scottish waters, the MCA needed two vessels and were not saying that only one was needed.
“Sir Alan Massey said that it would take ‘very unfortunate circumstances of bad luck’ for the case for two ETVs in Scotland to be looked at again – the reality is that most maritime emergencies are ‘unfortunate circumstances of bad luck’ and that is when a tug would be required.
"It still remains the issue that while our northern neighbours are beefing up that sort of maritime insurance policy, the UK Government is playing fast and loose and crossing its fingers that statistically rare probabilities do not ever occur.”
The decision to axe an emergency tug from the Western Isles has been “vindicated,” says the chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
Sir Alan Massey told a parliamentary inquiry that having an emergency towing vessel (ETV) based in the Western Isles would not have prevented the rig crashing onto the shore at Dalmore in August.
Axing the Stornoway tug in 2012 was the right decision , he suggested.
He told MPs: “Nothing so far indicates a second tug in Stornoway would have altered the outcome” of the rig crash.
Axing Stornoway emergency tug was right decision says coastguard boss
23 November 2016