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Reproduced with permission - first appearing online in the Shetland News
Near disaster as
tanker drifts close to Fair Isle
28th June 1999
by Hans Marter
Residents on the island of Fair Isle, half way between Orkney and Shetland, have reacted
angrily after the fully laden tanker Alandia Stream nearly ran aground on the island
following an engine failure.
Nick Riddiford, project coordinator of the Fair Isle Marine Environment and Tourism
Initiative, last night (SUN) described the feelings of the islanders as being
"vulnerable, frustrated and angry".
He said it was about time for the new Scottish government to act a create a marine nature
reserve in the waters around Fair Isle so that resources could be better managed and ships
with dangerous cargoes would respect exclusion zones.
Following the Braer disaster in January 1993 there is only a scheme in place which
requests that passing ships with hazardous cargoes report to Shetland coastguard when
passing through the narrow Fair Isle Channel.
The spokesman for the project, backed by the whole island community (pop. 75), said:
"We are very vulnerable and the island is both frustrated, because we have been
making a lot of representations to increase people's perception of the fact that the
marine environment needs to be protected, and also angry because we can't seem to make any
progress other than people saying, 'Oh, yes this is a fine thing'."
But he said nothing has been done to protect the marine resources of the island, which is
internationally famous for its important seabird colonies. He said it was now about time
for politicians to stop paying "lip-service" and to act to protect marine
resources that are under threat.
The initiative was set up four years ago to try to draw attention to Fair Isle's marine
area in order to develop a way to protect and manage it, in a sustainable way, for future
generations on the small island.
The Nassau registered Alandia Stream with 78.000 tons of Forties Crude on board reported
engine failure "just after 08.00 hours" on Saturday morning while being 6 miles
west of Fair Isle.
After drifting in the south easterly force 6 winds, the tanker was taken under tow to
Sullom Voe, Shetland, by the tug Anglian Prince.
Mr Riddiford, a freelance ecologist, said had the tanker gone ashore the island would have
been "devastated" and demanded immediate action from the government to protect
the fragile island community from dangerous cargoes being shipped through the Fair Isle
Channel.
He said the sea was "still regarded as a resource that can be exploited by dangerous
shipping, and by fishing without any apparent controls whatsoever."
He said: "What I would like to say to the new Scottish government is, 'Britain has a
huge reputation of looking after the land areas and yet in the marine areas we are lacking
behind many parts of the world. I would like to point out that England has now got a
marine nature reserve, Wales has a marine nature reserve, but Scotland has not'."
"Here you have an entire community that is looking for something positive to be done
to protect our marine environment, to put something sustainable in place, and here is a
golden opportunity for the new Scottish government to show its credentials by making sure
that Scotland has its first marine nature reserve, around Fair Isle."
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