'Hazard A' Tanker Passes

The Mersey Spirit passed up the Sound of Mull again this afternoon - she was last off Kilchoan on 4th October. She's a tanker, carrying bunkers for ships, and her cargo of oil is classed as 'Hazard A major'. Her deadweigth tonnage is 2,366 tonnes. Since the DWT is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew, and she's down to her marks, fully loaded, one can guess there's about 2,000 tonnes of oil on board.  The Lysblink Seaways spilled 25 tonnes when she grounded.

I enjoy watching ships like this pass through the Sound. While I think it's probably safer for her to pass to the west of Mull, I'm happy to see her - as long as the owners know that, if the ship comes ashore and people's livelihoods are ruined, the fines they will incur will be punitive.

Currently this is not the case - all they have to do is apologise and promise to do better next time.  So, wherever you live, please write to ian.blackford.mp@parliament.uk and urge him to press the UK government to take all the steps he can to prevent a repeat of the Lysblink Seaways 'accident'.