Cromarty crude oil: port loose with the truth

More than 500-protestors crowded Nairn's Central Beach on Sunday afternoon, to fight Cromarty's port authority's plans to transfer crude oil between ships. The authority (CFPA) claims that over the last 30-years 250-ship-to-ship oil transfers have taken place - according to port bosses "without incident" - but campaigners say they were carried out at Nigg Oil Terminal's jetty within the Cromarty Firth. Steve Truluck explained: "Nigg jetty allows the ships to moor up to it in the sheltered confines of the Cromarty Firth. "The ships are out of the strong tidal flow, fixed to a jetty which is attached to the land. "There's also a facility to sterilise the ballast water. "But CFPA are applying for a licence because the new process is entirely different. "The anchorage sites are in the Moray Firth. They are fully exposed to the stronger tidal flow and weather. The ships are just anchored. There's no connection to land. There's no facility to sterilise the ballast water." Jacquie Ross from Cromarty Rising says there's a lot of confusion about what's being proposed. Hear her in the 7am news bulletin read by John Callan.