HC Deb 30 May 1956 vol 553 cc221-3
26. Mr. E. L. Mallalieu

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will introduce legislation assigning Ministerial responsibility for the general design of commercial ships and, in particular, for safeguarding them from the effects of ice on their stability.

Mr. Watkinson

No, Sir. I do not think it would be right for the Government to assume control over the general design of commercial ships. The problem of the effects of ice on the stability of fishing vessels is, as my hon, Friend indicated during the recent debate on this subject, best left for solution by the owners and builders in consultation with my Department as necessary.

Mr. Mallalieu

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there were two modern trawlers from the Humber lost with all hands this year; that there are means now at any rate of minimising this danger; that these means have been adopted by some foreign trawlers—some of them even built in this country—and yet our own trawler owners have not yet adopted them; and would it not be sensible to see that some Minister is made responsible for ensuring that there is a minimum standard of safety for trawlers which have to work in the Arctic?

Mr. Watkinson

I read very carefully the remarks of the hon. Gentleman in the Adjournment debate, and I also read very fully the reply given by my hon. Friend, who answered the general point as to whether my Ministry and the Government were doing all that they could to see that this most tragic happening of the sudden icing up of trawlers in Arctic waters is prevented as far as possible.

Mr. J. T. Price

Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that the statutory enforcement of the Plimsol line which prevents vessels being overloaded under the waterline is not dissimilar in principle from allowing the overloading of vessels over the waterline by encrustations of ice, and should not similar statutory action apply to them, as this endangers human life?

Mr. Watkinson

This is a very technical and difficult matter, and there is no simple solution. The only long-term solution is for designers and owners of these vessels to work closely with my Ministry, whose services are always available, to try slowly to improve the design against the known difficulties.