§ MR. PIRIE (Aberdeen, N.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty what is the number of persons for whom boat accommodation and life-saving gear is provided on the hired transports "Simla" and "Nubia" respectively; and what is the number required to be provided for on those hired transports by the Board of Trade Regulations under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving Appliances) Act, 1888, and what is the largest number of passengers and crew carried by each of these vessels on one voyage either during the last or the present trooping season, specifying the number of invalids, women, and children?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTYIn both the "Nubia" and the "Simla" a life belt is provided for every person on board, and boat accommodation equal to carrying 910 persons. The maximum boat requirements of the Board of Trade, under the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving Appliances) Act, 1888, for emigrant ships of the same tonnage, would be boats equal to carrying about 700 persons, and from this an abatement might be made in the case of vessels, like the "Nubia" and "Simla," which are divided into efficient water-tight compartments. The largest numbers carried by the ships on one voyage (home) during the past and present trooping seasons are as follows, including the crew—namely: "Nubia," 1,673, including 54 women, 87 children, 79 invalids; "Simla," 1,643, including 35 women, 95 children, 23 invalids.