§ Mr. CROOKSasked the President of the Board of Trade whether any sea-going vessels are compelled by regulaton to carry as part of the life-saving apparatus any form of portable rocket apparatus; and, if not, whether he will consider the advisability of providing that all British ships shall in future be obliged to carry-some such life-saving gear?
Mr. ROBERTSONThere is no regulation requiring such an apparatus as that to which my hon. Friend refers to be carried on board ship, nor is there power to make such a regulation under the Merchant Shipping Acts. The matter was considered by the Board of Trade Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee in 1908, and their report was published as a Parliamentary Paper (Cd. 4552) in 1909, when the recommendations of the Committee were commended by the Board of Trade to the attention of those concerned by the issue of a special notice. As at present advised, the Board do not propose to take any further steps in the matter, but it will be further considered in connection with the pending inquiry into the recent loss of the "Delhi."