Humber Pilots Dispute: Online Poll Reveals 97% fear for Safety on the Humber

12.00.00am GMT Fri 7th Dec 2001

As the Humber Pilots meet at Hull's Guildhall today, Diana Wallis MEP has released the results of an online poll on her website about the dispute.

Of nearly three hundred participants, 97.2% voted that different bodies should be responsible for safety and service on the river Humber.

"This poll supports the position of myself and the Humber Pilots," says Diana Wallis MEP. "People are rightly worried about the safety implications of the proposals that ABP (Associated British Ports) have for the Humber."

The Humber Pilots are today in Hull at an extra-ordinary national meeting with UK Maritime Pilots Association to discuss the implications of the pilotage dispute on the Humber Estuary and the proposed new EU Directive on port services.

"This Directive could have implications for ABP," Diana Wallis continues. "I have written to the UK Government Minister concerned, but his reply is not satisfactory. Repeated attempts to get answers about safety on the Humber Estuary from both myself and the Humber Pilots have been met with evasive responses.

"It seems clear that the UK Government is not taking the safety concerns of the Humber Pilots seriously. If we are not careful, we will have failed to have learnt the lessons from the Sea Empress disaster."

• 288 people voted in the poll. Question: Should there be different bodies responsible for safety and service? 280 said 'yes', 8 said 'no'