RUSSIAN owned or chartered vessels are “not welcome in Scottish ports”, the Transport Secretary has said.
Michael Matheson told MSPs during a topical question session in Holyrood on Tuesday that the Scottish Government has been working with a range of stakeholders to ensure that Russian ships are unable to continue trading in Scottish ports.
The Cabinet Secretary said that amendments to sanctions put in place by the UK Government which would prohibit Russian ships from entering UK waters and allow them to be detained are “sufficient to address the issue”.
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He also revealed that Marine Scotland officials are actively tracking Russian vessels in Scottish waters.
It comes after Russian owned oil tanker NS Champion was due to dock at the Flotta oil terminal in Orkney on Tuesday, but after public outrage the local authority cancelled the visit from the vessel.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has urged all UK ports not to allow Russian vessels to dock.
Matheson (above) was asked by Liam McArthur, LibDem MSP for Orkney, what discussions had been had between the Scottish and UK Governments about using the sanctions regime to stop Russian ships from coming into ports.
Matheson said that the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring “appropriate measures are taken” to make sure that any support, even indirect, was not given to Russia’s “unjust war”.
He detailed the meeting between Shapps and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, adding: “More generally, we have been working collaboratively with stakeholders to make clear that vessels owned, controlled, chartered or operated by individuals or companies connected to Russia are not welcome in Scottish ports, or to undertake business here at this time.”
Matheson explained that at 3pm on Tuesday an amendment to sanctions will prohibit the entry of vessels connected to Russia to UK ports, stop the registration of such vessels in the UK and allow for the detention of such vessels already here, in certain circumstances.
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McArthur asked the Transport Secretary if he was confident “measures put through Westminster will have the effect of turning the request into a legally enforceable ban”.
Matheson said the sanctions he previously described that came into force on Tuesday afternoon are “sufficient to address the issue”.
He added: “There are some challenges in this sector because some of these vessels operate under a flag of convenience.
Orkney MSP McArthur asked what was being done to stop Russian vessels docking in Scotland
“They have complex ownership structures, which can make it challenging to identify connection to Russia or whether the vessel will have in some way some benefits to Russian stakeholders.
"But I can assure the member that I've asked my officials to prioritise to work with the UK Government to ensure that we work to share intelligence in this area, and to identify any such vessels that at the earliest possible point to ensure that they are not able to operate within Scottish ports and in Scottish waters.”
Marine Scotland officials are also “actively tracking and monitoring” Russian vessels in Scottish waters - who are exercising the right of innocent passage under international law - and this will continue in the days and weeks to come.
He added: “Of course I recognise that this will have some economic impact on our ports and harbours and of course we stand ready to engage with them to discuss any of the challenges which they're experiencing as a result of these sanctions being enforced.”
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