THE owners of a classic Clyde-built tug which ran aground near the Coulport naval base have been ordered to pay the Ministry of Defence more than £400,000 after losing a legal challenge at Scotland’s highest civil court.

Stuart White, 72, and David Symon, 66, demanded £150,000 from the MoD because they alleged the ministry acted negligently when dealing with their vessel, the Golden Cross, in May 2013.

The boat, built in Bowling in 1955, was beached on Loch Goil after it became detached from a nearby MoD buoy following a storm and started to sink.

Approximately 1.5 tonnes of oil was spilled which then had to be cleaned up before the tug was taken to Rosneath to be broken up in December 2013.

The two men wanted compensation from the MoD, saying that it hadn’t done enough to ensure the boat’s safety.

They instructed lawyers and and took the matter to the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

Lawyers for the Ministry of Defence disagreed. They stated that if they didn’t take any action, the boat could have stopped Royal Navy submarines from accessing the waters.

However, in a ruling issued on Friday, judge Lady Wise ruled in favour of the Ministry of Defence.

She stated that the government department acted responsibly.

Lady Wise also ordered Mr White and Mr Symon to pay the MoD £441,511.60 – the cost of the clean up operation.

In the judgement, Lady Wise wrote that Ian White, the Deputy Queen’s Harbourmaster didn’t act negligently.

Mr White was the official responsible for overseeing the attempts to salvage the boat.

Lady Wise wrote: “I conclude that the Deputy Queen’s Harbourmaster acted reasonably at all times on May 3 and May 4 2013.

“In making a tentative plan but not ruling out any other option until he had visited the vessel on May 4 and seen the extent of the contaminated water inside the engine room, he left a final decision to beach the vessel until he had assessed personally that nothing else was possible.

“Ian White required to balance a number of considerations. That included his duty to protect the UK’s nuclear deterrent, to avoid contamination of the loch if possible but also to take any reasonably available steps to save the vessel.

“He made the call that this was a Tier 2 oil spill which turned out to be accurate. He approached the management in a careful, reasonable and proportionate manner.”

The 132 ton boat was launched in 1955 by shipbuilders Scott & Son of Bowling.