THE HARBOUR authority Forth Ports has come under pressure from one of its major shareholders over its handling of controversial plans to transfer oil between tankers off the Fife coast.

A major investment company owned by the life and pensions giant Friends Provident has told the Sunday Herald that its multi-million pound shareholding in Forth Ports is "under review".

Karina Litvack, head of sustainable investment with F&C Asset Management, said they were "concerned" about the plans. They had raised the issue with Forth Ports, and would withdraw some of their investments if they were dissatisfied about what was happening.

"We are watching very closely," Litvack said. "A company that behaves irresponsibly over biodiversity is putting its assets and those of its shareholders at risk."

Forth Ports has run into fierce criticism from environmental groups for backing plans to pump millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between ships anchored in the Firth of Forth. It could face further protests at its annual general meeting in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

Critics fear the accidental spillage of oil, which would devastate wildlife and beaches around the Forth. They have also attacked the legitimacy of Forth Ports assessing the safety of the operation when it is hoping to make a profit of up to £6 million a year from licensing it.

F&C Asset Management looks after funds of more than £100 billion for Friends Provident, some £3.6bn of which is invested in ethical enterprises. The company has a shareholding in Forth Ports of more than 7%, with a current value of over £66m, a portion of which is in its ethical portfolio.

According to Litvack, all F&C's investments had been used to put "pressure" on Forth Ports, and the ethical funding could be withdrawn. "If a company responds unco-operatively, we will pull out," she insisted.

By setting up an independent panel to assess safety, and agreeing to wider stakeholder involvement, Forth Ports had so far responded positively, she stated. But F&C was now awaiting the outcome of this process, and the attitude of the new Scottish Parliament.

Forth Ports confirmed that a meeting had been held about 18 months ago with F&C to discuss the ship-to-ship proposal. Since then, all shareholders had been updated about progress on the issue in regular one-to-one meetings.

According to Charles Hammond, the chief executive of Forth Ports, the meeting with F&C had been constructive. "They made some helpful suggestions about relationships with environmental groups," he said.

No major shareholder had threatened to pull out if Forth Ports gave ship-to-ship transfers the go-ahead, he said. "All our long-term significant shareholders are supportive of our strategy."

Hammond will be promising this week's AGM that Forth Ports will publish environmental and economic assessments and invite stakeholders to comment before making a final decision. "Ultimately, we have to be satisfied with the safety of a project before we think about it commercially," he said.

The Scottish Green Party urged investors to put more pressure on Forth Ports. "Powerful corporations like Forth Ports plc might think they are a law unto themselves but they are not beyond market forces," said Mark Ruskell, the party's election campaign director.

If the Greens had power or influence after this week's elections, Ruskell promised they would act without delay to remove decision-making powers from Forth Ports on ship-to-ship oil transfers.

Financial services company Legal and General invests some of its ethical funds in Forth Ports. But a spokesman said it only amounted to "just over £100,000".

Three other major investors confirmed to the Sunday Herald that they had holdings in Forth Ports, but they said the investments were outwith their ethical portfolios. The companies were Morley Fund Management, which is associated with Norwich Union, Insight Investment, part of the HBOS group, and Jupiter Asset Management.