HC Deb 27 October 1947 vol 443 cc490-1
13. Mr. Thomas Reid

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if the British-owned ships recently seized on the Danube have been given back to their lawful owners.

Mr. Mayhew

I have no record of any British-owned ships recently seized on the Danube. I presume, however, that my hon. Friend refers to certain ships previously in the custody of the United States authorities in Bavaria and the property of the Hungarian River and Sea Navigation Company, which were arrested at Linz early this year and held in the custody of an Austrian court pending the outcome of civil proceedings initiated by the legal representative of certain British creditors of this Hungarian Company. On 5th May, in complete disregard for the authority of the Austrian court and in violation of the pledged word of the ships' masters, the vessels left Linz and proceeded towards Hungary. So far as I know, these ships are now at the disposal of their owners.