SOTEAG monitors a variety of habitats around the Sullom Voe Terminal. This monitoring has been going on since 1974, one year before work on the terminal began. Baseline ecological monitoring was carried out and these results built the foundation of SOTEAG's monitoring programme.
The reviewed area encompasses the zone that the Shetland Islands Council (SIC) is responsible for, including:
Tanker trading to Sullom Voe
Ship-to-ship transfer
West of Shetland activities
Under the European Habitats Directive, Sullom Voe has been deemed a Special Area of Conservation since 2005. SOTEAG monitors the marine environment around Sullom Voe, and can alert the Sullom Voe Association Ltd. to any changes that the monitoring reveals.
SOTEAG works alongside the international community and is an independent body with members drawn from academia, the oil industry, central and local government, government environmental agencies and indigenous industries with a maritime focus.
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SOTEAG reports to and is funded by the Sullom Voe Association (SVA) Limited whose partners comprise:
SVA Ltd is responsible for policy relating to the design, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance, new development and the eventual decommissioning of the Sullom Voe Terminal.
SOTEAG currently coordinates the administration of The Shetland Oiled Wildlife Network (SOWN)
The Shetland Oiled Wildlife Network (SOWN) is a forum for knowledge sharing and information transfer between Shetland’s oiled wildlife stakeholders. The function of the network is to facilitate informed communication and cooperation between stakeholders, but the network itself is not responsible for delivering the oiled wildlife response.
The aims of the network are:
1) Shared awareness of the oiled wildlife resources and provisions held by each stakeholder
2) Shared awareness of modern-day oil spill response planning