Fuel nearly ran out
Monday 22nd December 2008, 2:30PM GMT.
The Vedrey Tora, one of two tankers bought by the States. (Picture by Tony Rive, 0530348)
GUERNSEY came within days of running out of fuel before the States took control of the supply chain, it emerged at the weekend.
Policy Council sources indicated that stocks of petrol and heating oil were at one stage down to three to four days before the crisis was resolved.
A news blackout was imposed by senior politicians and the fuel suppliers to prevent panic buying. The fear was that unnecessary topping up of cars and oil tanks would have triggered an actual shortage.
The problem was caused by administrators impounding the two ships owned by Swedish firm Svithoid Tankers after it collapsed to prevent the assets from being lost to them.
When this happened, the Vedrey Tora was en route to Guernsey with a full, urgently needed, load.
‘Some very swift negotiations had to take place to get the ship released otherwise the island would have literally run out of fuel,’ a council source told the Guernsey Press.
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How convienient. Surely the States have a contingency plan for such vital supplies….
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For goodness sake – give the States some credit when it is due. They took appropriate action very quickly – and now, as an island, we are guaranteed this vital lifeline. I think they deserve a round of applause – and i don’t think that very often!
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Lip service to mitigate their illegal activities. What next exactly.
Are we going to wait and see?
I don’t wish to.
How about others?
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Merlin – I agree with you, credit where it is due. Deputy Trott and the Policy Council have my full support on this occasion which, like you, doesn’t happen often as there is much about the present government that warrants concern.
Sadly, there are elements of the population whose single-minded determination to undermine certain ministers seems to render them almost incapable of thinking objectively about current events and States policy.
Sometimes we need to take the blinkers off, put personal feelings to one side and accept that, occasionally, our government (yes, even the Chief Minister) acts in the best interests of the island given the circumstances.
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I say Fair dues to the states. We always seem to moan they never do anything positive yet people are moaning about them buying a vital life line of our island! It’s crazy they don’t act – we moan. They act quickly and smartly for a change and we still seem to be moaning. If a meeting had gone ahead to agree on buuying, 1) may not have been agreed at all! 2) by the time it had been scheduled and seen through it probably would have been too late.
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I’d like to echo the thoughts of Merlin and Paul Le P. The Policy Coucil need to be applauded for taking decisive action. Decisiveness is not a trait that the States as a whole has exhibited in the past. There is a time for lengthy detailed debate with full consultation, this was not one of them.
As I see it the issue for many is not the purchase of the ships themselves but the fact that the Policy Council acted outside of the current law.
The issue then is the inflexibility of the current system. Even with full contingency planning, situations requiring quick decisive descision making will occur again. Robust legislation needs to be implemented to allow the Policy Council to act without full States deliberation in exceptional circumstances. I’m sure you’ll agree the prospect of running out of fuel in winter is an exceptional circumstance!
How would the negative commentators have responded if the Policy Council had acted decisively and introduced a Depositors Protection Scheme at the onset of the banking crisis without full States deliberation?
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I wonder what the response on here would have been if no action had been taken and the Island had run out of fuel?.Managers have to manage,and sometimes there is no time to gather the flock around you and spend a week or two deciding how to catch the cat which has already left by the back door.
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At last some common sense being spoken on this topic rather than more idiotic comments from Paul (Victor Meldrew in disguise ?) taking yet another opportunity to stick the knife into the CM for his personal agenda.
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David
My reply to you is that you are obviously lacking in common sense and your comment is idiotic.
The fact of the matter is that we were being well served by one ship but the PC and CM thought it would be a good idea to purchase two?
The details over this deal are being kept so quiet it makes one wonder the extent of the financial burden we will be expected to shoulder.
If one ship was purchased I probably would not even bothered to comment. These are difficult times. If a shipping company can’t make ends meet then why should us taxpayers be expected to pick up the slack!
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Paul just take a look at your postings over the past month. You are only interested in slaying the CM at every opportunity. Your postings lack all reason. You never make any constructive comments, just offering blind condemnation of the CM. I accept that you don’t like him but blaming him and him alone for everything is childish, petty and ignorant and does you no favours at all.
Your point about buying one or two boats is a valid one and I suspect there is a very valid answer, such as the administrator only being willing to sell them as a pair. Time will tell.
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Clearly the spirit of goodwill is upon us. So many taking on trust the meagre crumbs of data given by the elected hired hands.
I well rememeber the panic States session that approved the ourchase of Aurigny. This despite the fact that there wer 166 slots available at Gatwick. Looking at the chart ofr theday the airline was purchased shows there was a lack of slots at about 8am, but the rest of the day there were adequate slots.
After the purchase of Aurigny we saw airlines sch as EasyJet, Monarch etcmaking rapid expansion at Gatwick using available slots.
At least this time there is time for cautious deputies to do their research before being asked to apporove the purchase and to find out the facts for themselves.
For the person who sugested on one of the threads that pother islands could have clubbed in with Guernsey let me thank them for including the Isle of Wight. We are well served by the Humber Energy an inshore tanker, so will opt out of the invite.
By the way the Humber Thor is still anchored at St Helen’s Anchorage waiting to go to Fawley. The question of why buy two tankers seems very valid. The Vedrey Tora is anchored in Liverpool Bay but has at least done some work this week, sailing from the Isle of Man to Liverpool.
Despite it being the season of goodwill I expect those who support the purchase, without any real evidence; will sling their arrows with idiot attached as the message.
I would remind readers of the term “let the buyer beware” (CaveaT Emptor) It could be a costly lesson.
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David
I strongly believe that our CM is in love with spending other peoples money in the hope that some good will come of it and it will boost his public appeal.
He has done very little for us islanders actually. It is completely the opposite. Left unchecked he would strip us of our assets and sell us down the road of poverty and misery.
If I had my way I would ike to see all the top dogs in the system scrutinised very carefully. Too many states members scratch each others backs.
I don’t trust many of them. We don’t have a democracy at all. We get sold a story at election time and then as soon as they are in it. They work amongst themselves to milk what they can get away with.
Before shooting me down have you forgtten about all the overspends this man has left us to finance.
All I would ask for is states members to treat the publics money as carefully as it were their own.
Outsiders must love doing business with CM cos it proves to be very lucrative towards the end of completion. I do think he would never have reached the point had deputy Falla kept his hand in the mix!
Wait and see what the true costs are with these purchases cos it will be a hell of a lot more than most are thinking.
Management companies will be having dreams with reference to obtaining the contract.
The reality and mentality of our current elected/unelectd is that they are so incompetent and ignorant that they feel the need to call on consultants far to much and at a very high price to us taaxpayers.
In reality if our people in power can’t manage what is put before them then they should not be where they are at in the first place.
You have to know what you are controling before you jump in the drivers seat. If not move over and let someone who does know what they are doing take control.
The lack of information over these latest big spends is very worrying indeed.
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Paul I actually agree with you re all of the ridiculous overspends but blaming the current CM when the contractual errors and negligence leading to these overspends actually occurred prior to his appointment as T&R minister is where you appear to have got it so wrong. The contracts overspends at the airport and the new jetty, for example, arose from the era of Bill Bell and, I think I am right in saying, Ivan Rihoy. Deputy Trott simply had to deliver the bad news once the overspends were quantified after his appointment. You are merely trying to shoot the messenger. The one major contract completed on Lyndon’s watch was the new court building. Whether or not that essential is a different issue but the House approved it and my recollection is that it came in on budget.
If you are blaming Deputy Trott for introducing zero 10 then don’t forget that it was also a House decision and that as an island we had absolutely no choice. Whoever was T&R minister at the time would now be getting blamed for islanders now facing tax rises. It was unavoidable to save our only significant industry.
Whether you like or dislike Deputy Trott is your free choice but I would suggest that you firstly check whether he is actually responsible for the things that you are blaming him for !
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“I strongly believe that our CM is in love with spending other peoples money in the hope that some good will come of it and it will boost his public appeal.”
Wrong again Paul. C&E knew, Treasury involved. Joint PC decision. LT just spoke it – that’s his job.
Sorry to pour water on your fire again
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The supply of fuel to the Island is a strategic issue. Most businesses plan for disaster recovery and have an approved plan of action for key threats. But not the states when it comes to the supply of fuel. I was shocked to hear the Island could run out of fuel within a few days. Now the matter has been dealt with, albeit without proper consultations because the Island was forced into an emergency decision. But at what cost ?
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