§ 5. Mr. HANNONasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of recent serious fires in ships upon the high seas, he will consider the advisability through an international conference of giving effect to the provision embodied in the Convention for Safety of Life at Sea that the materials used in ship construction should be such as to resist the spread of fire and thus prevent loss of life and damage to property?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANThe International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1929, provides for the fitting of fire resisting bulkheads, for the establishment of fire patrol and alarm systems, and for the carriage of fire-fighting appliances on 999 passengers steamships, but it does not provide that the materials used in ship construction and fitting generally should be fire-resisting. The question of limiting the use of combustible material in the construction and fitting of passenger ships is engaging the attention of my Department in consultation with the shipping industry, and when their investigations are complete the desirability of initiating international action will be considered.