HC Deb 09 May 1907 vol 174 cc358-9
MR. LONSDALE

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can give the number of British vessels posted as missing during the last ten years whose loss is attributed to collision with derelicts.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. LLOYD-GEORGE,) Carnarvon Boroughs

As the causes of vessels being missing are entirely matters of conjecture, I cannot undertake to say how many of such losses have been attributed to collisions with derelicts during the last ten years, and I am not aware that any reliable evidence has been forthcoming at an inquiry or elsewhere that a vessel has probably been lost from such cause.