Dear Maritime and Coastguard Agency,
A large semi-submersible rig Ocean Greatwhite (43860t gross) arrived in The Minch around year end 2018 escorted by a tug with continuous bp (bollard pull) of over 300t. The Alp Defender then departed.
The Ievoli Black left Kirkwall on 4/1/19 and has been patrolling near Ocean Greatwhite, which is dynamically positioned close inshore to Priest Island, which is an SPA (Special Protected Area).
Q1. Is the rig owner/operator or KPL (Kishorn Port Limited) contributing to the cost?
Q2. Is the 120t bp of the Ievoli Black sufficient to hold the rig in conditions stated in MSC (Maritime Safety Committee) Circular 884? A sister tug of Alp Defender the Alp Forward with a continuous bp of 218t was unable to hold a rig of 17580t resulting in a grounding.
Q3. Does the master of Ievoli Black have the windage charts of Ocean Greatwhite? If so could you provide a copy.
Q4. What input has MCA had into the risk assessment of a 43,860t dynamically positioned rig remaining in close proximity to an SPA for weeks?

Yours faithfully,

Gordon C Stalker

Dear Maritime and Coastguard Agency,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Maritime and Coastguard Agency's handling of my FOI request 'Ievoli Black ETV (Emergency Towing Vessel) and Ocean GreatWhite semi submersible rig'.

Dear Sir,
The FOI/EIR regulations require a prompt reply and not waiting until the last minute. In any case I believe your reply is out of time as it was due by 7th February 2019.
You have not answered my questions but glibly avoided them.
1) I was asking about the period before the rig arrived in Loch Kishorn escorted by the AH Varazze (301 tons bp). The rig was moving between approx. Lat/Long 57.9385 -005.5443 (near Priest Island) and 58.0844 -005.8763 (middle of The Minch) both locations close to a busy ferry route (Ullapool-Stornoway). It was doing this to meet up with various landing craft type ships owned by Ferguson Marine. It was unescorted by any tug until Ievoli Black arrived on 5th January 2019, which then spent several days patrolling close by.
2) I did not ask if Ievoli Black was capable of holding the rig in sea conditions comparable to grounding of Transocean Explorer/Alp Forward. I asked if it was capable of holding it in a standard set of sea conditions. which might be expected in NW Scotland in January.
3) I dispute your bollard pull rating of Ievoli Black, which is underpowered for the type of vessel it may have to deal with. I have read the evaluation of how it was selected.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...

Yours faithfully,

Gordon C Stalker BSc

Dear DirectorateofMaritimeOperations,
This enquiry is the subject of Case Reference Number FS50828261 submitted on 11th March 2019.

Yours sincerely,

Gordon C Stalker