Christmas gloom as 30 jobs may go
Coastguard closure date confirmed and ERT site under shutdown threat
(From The Orcadian dated November 9, 2000)

Fifteen local jobs will go at the end of the year with confirmation that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) are working towards closing the Pentland Maritime Rescue Sub Centre (MRSC) on Friday, December 15.

The announcement comes in the same week as news that a total of 14 Orkney jobs could go, also at the end of the year, unless a buyer is found for the Environment and Resource Technology centre on Flotta.

The job losses, coming at that time of year, would make it a bleak Christmas for many Orkney households.

The ERT site, which incorporates the Orkney water test centre, was put up for sale last year by owners Kvaerner – a Norwegian construction and engineering group.

But negotiations with a prospective buyer have run into difficulties and unless the centre is sold before the end of the year, it looks set to close with the loss of all jobs.

Speaking from Oslo this week ERT managing director Mr Ola Johansson told The Orcadian that Kvaerner had been trying to sell the site for more than a year and were now “struggling a little.”

ERT had three sites owned by Kvaerner, based in Orkney, Edinburgh and Baku on the shores of the Caspian sea.

Mr Johansson said they had been designated by Kvaerner as a “non-core” part of their business and following a review last year, it was decided to sell them.

“Since then we have been able to dispose of ERT in Edinburgh where the management bought out that operation,” he said. “We have recently started the sale process in the Caspian and the third unit is Flotta which we have been trying to sell for more than one year now.”

Mr Johansson said Kvaerner wanted to ensure the future of the business for the staff at Flotta.

“We want to find someone who has this business as their core business so that in theory they would run this operation in a more efficient way than Kvaerner does today,” he said.

“We are still talking to a potential buyer, but we have not reached a conclusion yet.”

Mr Johansson confirmed though that the centre would close if a buyer wasn’t found before the end of the year, although he had not given up hope.

“That is the ultimate result if we do not find a buyer, but I have not given it up yet,” he said.

OIC development and planning director Mr Jeremy Baster said the council were also involved and were considering buying the building on Flotta and then leasing it back to whoever bought the business.

“The potential purchaser would like to buy the business but not the building so they would become our tenants,” said Mr Baster.

The council, he added, had in the meantime asked for a valuation of the building.

* Meanwhile, the 15 or so staff currently employed as watch officers or assistants at the Pentland Coastguard station will move to jobs at other stations throughout the UK, while others will remain in Orkney, but leave the coastguard service altogether.

District controller Mr John Livitt will stay on as the senior representative of the MCA in Orkney, along with the current Kirkwall sector manager, Mr Ian MacDonald, and administrative assistant, Helen Leslie. Local coastguard response teams will still operate as before in the case of emergencies.

Mr Livitt has written to boat owners and other users explaining the handover procedure from the Pentland Station to the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre in Shetland and the Rescue Co-ordinating Centre in Aberdeen.

Mr Livitt advises that incidents within Orkney will be handled from Lerwick, and those on the North Coast of Scotland will be co-ordinated from Aberdeen. Incidents in the Pentland Firth will be monitored by both Shetland and Aberdeen coastguard stations, but normally, Aberdeen will take charge of the rescue or search effort.

Mr Livitt also points out that in the run-up to December 15, engineers will be connecting remote site aerials to their new parent stations, starting with those on the north coast of Caithness and Sutherland.

As the changeover takes effect, anyone calling Pentland Coastguard will not speak to an operator in Kirkwall, but will be re-routed to either Shetland or Aberdeen.

To help a smooth transition, the MCA have also provided contact numbers for the Shetland and Aberdeen Coastguard Stations.

The Operations Room at Aberdeen can be contacted on 01224 592334. The FAX number for that office is 01224 575920. The telephone number for the Admin Section of Aberdeen Coastguard is 01224 597930. Their FAX number is 01224 573720. The Operations Room in Shetland is available on 01595 692976, and the FAX number is 01595 694810. The Admin Office for Shetland Coastguard can be contacted on 01595 743500, and the FAX number is 01595 696816.