| Description | Tape 1 Side A ROBERT CHALMERS SCLATER born 7 August 1941 Kirkwall, Orkney. Paternal family: father, Tom Sclater, a policeman, haulage contractor, Borough Officer. Lived in flat above Town Hall. Grandfather lived nearby, old Orkney family. Grandparents' names. Background to name Sclater, different spellings. Lot of Sclaters in Orkney. Maternal family: from Stronsay, Westray. Grandfather a farm servant. Family names. Mother worked as a servant before marriage. Not very involved with grandparents but got together with other relatives. Details re mother's family. Lot of people moved away from Orkney. Youngest of 4 siblings, most still in Orkney. Details re their ages, situations. Mentions knitwear business. Childhood home life. Details re father's haulage business, work as Borough Officer. Describes home above Town Hall. Recalls official occasions, Bar Game - Orkney traditional game played at Christmas, New Year. Father's early life in Canada, work in police force during war. Describes him. Recalls concerts in Kirkwall, eg Jimmy Shand, Jim Cameron, holidays, concert parties. Describes mother, her social activities. Parents went dancing, entertained friends, often had visitors in house. Close community. Politics - parents keen Liberals. Recalls Jo Grimmond, MP for Orkney, his attitude. Comments on relaxed Orkney way of life. Religion - parents both involved in Church of Scotland. Went to Sunday School. Still involved with church. Went to local Kirkwall Grammar School from age 5 right through. School is now Council offices. Memories of school, gradings, compares with today. Career aspiration, to go to sea, need for extra study of maths. Enjoyed sport. Small as a boy. Known as Piri Bobby Sclater. Effect of being small, need to prove self.
Tape 1 Side B Father was main influence. Other role models were boys who had gone to sea. Background to going to sea. Not interested in politics in early years. Explains attraction of Liberal politics. Always tried to back the underdog, possible reason for this. Current state of Liberals. Went to sea at 15. Explains. Went to Leith Nautical College Sea School. Details of deck boys' course. Joined New Zealand Shipping Company ship Otaki 1957. Details re former Otaki. Later became Chief Officer of Otaki. Progress through ranks. Mentions work helping father. Recalls life with NZ Shipping Company, early seasickness, Bosun, an Aberdonian. Describes culture on board ship. People worked well together. Details re daily routine, work to be done. No career plans then. Background to going for Mate's ticket at Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen. Details re Mate's course, leisure activities. Recalls determination to do course. Mentions rapid physical growth from being small. Recalls significance of friend John Leslie, and of family in own progress. Was first in family to get higher qualification. Explains process finding company to work for, Lamport & Holts 1964, as Third Mate. First experiences being in position of responsibility, taking first sight etc. Importance of first captain. Compares own background with others'. Recalls burial at sea. Details of a fatal fire at sea involving refrigeration system. Strange fulfilment of superstition that one death at sea brings another. Own experience being taken to hospital. Ship belonged to Blue Star Line, Vestey, had no radar. Details of cargo which was contaminated. When ship got back to Hamburg, grain cargo had gone solid.
Tape 2 Side A First voyage as Third Mate 1964. No thought of oil or gas in North Sea. Changes to Orkney since oil industry came. Little change to way of life. Recalls Orkney before oil, farming, small fishing industry. Details. Changes in Aberdeen. Did Mate's ticket 1965-6, Master's 1970. In 1965, joined Hong Kong company tramp steamers, worked on Liberty ship. Details re crew, voyage. Recalls Vietnam at time of war. Story of being boarded by Vietnamese, thefts. Recalls trip in South China Sea, meeting junk far from land with people tied up on board, skipper murdered. Survivors taken on board at gunpoint. Disappearance of the 'murderer'. Came ashore in 1976 as Chief Officer. After far eastern trip, got Mate's ticket, rejoined NZ Shipping Company 1966. Mentions seamen's strike, being stuck in Glasgow. Feelings about strike, unions. Explains own reasons for joining union. Mentions family situation, development of taxi, knitwear businesses. Details re meeting wife, daughter of blacksmith in South Ronaldsay, her family names. Got Master's ticket 1970. Explains promotion system, steps followed. Mentions wife's sea voyages, birth of daughter, later sea appointments. Recalls first hearing of North Sea oil, plans for terminal at Flotta. Details re harbour situation in Orkney at time, no Pilotage Act etc. Impact of Orkney County (later Islands) Council Act 1974, creation of harbour authority. Details. Explains situation before this. Council took over as pilotage authority, advertised for pilots etc. Own reasons for wanting to come ashore, family, changes at sea etc. While waiting for work in Orkney went back to sea. Details.
Tape 2 Side B Got home mid-1976. Background to appointment as Marine Officer (later Pilot) with Orkney Council. Mentions house in South Ronaldsay. Details re own family. Recalls interview for job. Details re portacabin offices at Scarpa, other colleagues, primitive radar system, VHF radio. Early pilotage work on small tankers etc. Flotta terminal then in development stage. Explains working of Single Point Moorings (SPM). First incident involving tanker, broken chain, oil spill. Details re improved system. Describes early daily routine as Pilot. Recalls ditching of a Tomcat aircraft. Skills necessary to get pilot's ticket, handling big and small ships. Preparation for first tankers coming to Flotta. Procedure handling tankers with tugs, approach to SPMs. Hundreds of people involved in Flotta construction. Details. Few locals involved in construction. Oil industry had little impact on Orkney, no problems. Compares with situation in Shetland. First tanker for Flotta crude oil, Dolabela January 1977. Details of first cargos. No ballast allowed overboard in Scarpa Flow except from gas tankers. Describes piloting routine, communications, approach to tanker, necessary speeds, boarding procedures, use of tugs, approach to Scarpa Flow, moorings. Role of Boarding Master. Problems with obstructions under water, eg part of HMS Vanguard, sunken First World War battleship. Tanker discharging procedure, cleaning of ballast in terminal. Recalls earlier days at sea dumping bilge water, dunnage. Strong concern for environment in Orkney before oil operations started. Environmental unit initially run by Dundee University. Details. Reference to German fleet, British ships sunk in Scarpa Flow, scheduled wrecks including HMS Royal Oak.
Tape 3 Side A Routine piloting ships from Flotta terminal, route followed, complexities re tidal flow. Details re close call when a tanker lost power. Later rewrote passage plan, instructions to ships coming to Scarpa Flow. Details re speed, slowing down of tankers. Regular contact with Marine Superintendent, Max Gunn, and others at Flotta Terminal. Duties of Mooring Masters during docking, loading operations. Impression of Occidental Company in early days. Recalls early difficulties with pipelines. In early days, all pretty green, young, learning about processes. Impact of oil industry on Orkney, high wages. Effect on house prices. Gradual increase in workload with development from crude oil to gas - ethane, propane etc. Mentions agreement with Norsk Hydro. Details re loading ethane. Staff situation. Mentions weather conditions. Growth in numbers of ships, need for more pilots. Explains 24-hour day, shift system. When took over as Director in 1989, changed shift and other procedures. Reaction of unions. 1985 appointed Deputy Director. Harbour Equalisation Fund establishe. Explains. Good relationship between Council and Occidental. Compares with situation in Shetland. Occidental contributed a lot to Orkney. Details. Explains role as Deputy Director. Mentions own children, names and birth dates. Involved with Council on Pilotage Committee. Details. Explains significance of 1987 Pilotage Act. Growing experience in committee work. Became Councillor much later. Recollections of Piper Alpha disaster. Away at the time. Kept all staff on afterwards though no oil coming in for 6 months. Explains. Details re resumption of oil flow. Biggest tankers handled at Flotta were 200,000 tons. One of 350,000 came to Scarpa Flow. Details re ship-to-ship transfers.
Tape 3 Side B 1985 Deputy Director of Harbours (cont'd). Established VTS (Vessel Traffic Service) radar system, switched on by Queen. Details. Reference to Norwegian royals. Impression of King Olaf. Explains changes to towage operation to make it more economically efficient. Logic of Council having own tugs instead of bareboat chartering. Problems with old system. Eventually 3 tugs built. Details of financial arrangements. Hard to convince council to make changes. Formerly a close relationship between Council and tug charterers, J.P. Knight. Tugs built by Weissmuller. Mentions own current chairmanship of Harbour Operations Committee. Attitude of Occidental people to towage situation. Argument for 3 tugs rather than 2. As Deputy Director had regular meetings with Flotta people. Set up Oil Pollution Liaison Committee, a first. Biggest oil spill 1986-7. Details. Brought about link with RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). Problems caused by dispersants used on oil. Reference to Scottish National Heritage. Flotta taken over by Elf (from Occidental). Elf chartered to help with cleanups. Explains cleanup protocols. Developed Oil Pollution Plan, monitoring of ships coming into Scarpa Flow. Explains own approach to problems. Example of ship-to-ship transfers. Orkney Islands Council took over internal ferry services. Details of own involvement, building of 3 tugs, 6 ferries, 2 pilot launches etc. Explains financial arrangements. Reference to Scottish Office. Details re arrangement between Occidental and Orkney Council for compensation reserve fund, harbour charges. Recent changes to arrangement to keep terminal competitive. Orkney dependent on oil industry. Details of income, expenditure of oil money, grants, employment etc. Long term effects of oil on Orkney.
Tape 4 Side A 1989-98 Director of Harbours. Explains overall responsibility, duties. Member of British Ports Association, Scottish Ports. Piper Alpha disaster did not affect operations. Flotta always safely run. Piper accommodation module taken to Scarpa Flow. Reaction to disaster, effect on reputation of Occidental. Impression of them beforehand. Own regular routine as boss, long hours etc. Continuing involvement with shipbuilding, pilotage, restructuring manpower etc. Good relations with Council. Recalls Council's bad experience re a possible ferry service across Pentland Firth, own advice not taken. Current ferry system working well. Describes routine as Director, work with Flotta terminal. Mentions liaison re oil pollution, establishment of Oil Pollution Fund, oil terminal Compensation Fund for immediate relief in case of an oil pollution incident. Role played by Max Gunn, Marine Superintendent, later Terminal Manager, Flotta, and self. Extension of pier for workboats. Decommissioning agreement for when Flotta eventually closes down, planned use of funds. Future plans for possible Flotta European container terminal. Reference to Talisman (present owners of Flotta). Flotta first to take Atlantic oil (from Foinhaven field). Compares efficiency at Flotta, Sullom Voe. Positive attitude at Scarpa Flow. Examples of can-do attitude. Benefit of Orkney's hub position. Involvement with Cruise Europe consortium re cruise liners coming to Northern Europe. Orkney top cruise liner destination in UK. Competition between Orkney and Shetland. Uniqueness of Scarpa Flow, deep water. Compares with Sullom Voe. Importance of relationship with oil company. Compares Talisman with Occidental. Retired 1998, stood for Council 1999. Feelings about retirement. Details re pension. Details re family.
Tape 4 Side B 1999 elected to Council. Feelings about retirement. Became Vice-Chairman of Roads Committee. Explains work as a councillor. Reaction of some people to change of role from chief official to councillor. Different approach, effectiveness as councillor. Re-elected 2003. Chairman of Transportation Committee. Details re duties, other activities. On Oil Development Working Group. Explains role. Advantage of previous experience with oil industry, being at sea. Recalls running of Flotta under Occidental, Elf. Same personnel involved, developed careers and learned business together. Comments on how long oil will keep going through Flotta. Own future plans. Family situation. Own role is still selling Orkney. Details. Reference to talk given by Oil Pollution Safety Officer, Graham Smith. Possible effect of stimulus of childhood environment on own career. Recalls Braer tanker incident (1993) in Shetland, Orkney involvement, Lord Donaldson's report, 'Safer Ships and Cleaner Seas'. Wrote Orkney Islands Council response on safe shipping around Orkney waters. Donaldson's response. Orkney paper looked at aspects of shipping routeing round Orkney, Shetland. Own view re shipping routes, question of one- or two-way traffic. Feelings re Shetland, Orkney attitudes. Details re tidal flows. Mentions incidents in Pentland Firth resulting in writing new instructions to shipping, shipping passage plans. Recent ruling that no single hull tankers allowed into Scapa Flow. Explains. |