MERCHANT SHIPPING (Hansard, 28 April 1965)

§ Mr. George Jeger (Goole)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the law relating to the measurement of the tonnage of merchant ships and the marking of load lines. The Bill which I seek leave to introduce is another in the long line of Merchant Shipping Bills which have reached the Statute Book during the past 70 years. It will be concerned with the rather complicated subject of measurement of ships for tonnage. Tonnage is an expression of a ship's volume in tons of 100 cubic feet. Broadly speaking, gross tonnage is the total volume of the ship and may be said to indicate its size. Net tonnage is ascertained by making certain deductions from the gross tonnage and may be said to be approximately a measure of the earning capacity of the ship.

It is necessary to ascertain the tonnage of a ship for many purposes: determination of tonnage is a prerequisite of registry, and it is used as a criterion for many other purposes connected with shipping and in particular as the basis for charges levied on ships for services rendered to them in the various ports. It is clearly a matter of importance to the shipping industry. The current law on tonnage measurement is to be found in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, as amended by the Merchant Shipping Acts of 1906, 1907, 1948 and 1954. The wording of the Acts is archaic and with the passage of time they contain many anomalies.

It is time that the British law on the subject is given a new and up-to-date look. The object of my proposed Bill, therefore, is to repeal the existing law and to enable this complicated subject to be dealt with by regulations made by the Board of Trade. At this stage, it is not proposed that the regulations to be made under powers contained in the Bill shall do more than clarify and consolidate the present law, except in relation to a particular matter which I will come to shortly.

At present, there is much international interest in the subject of tonnage measurement, and considerable time is being devoted to it by the Inter-Governmental 452 Maritime Consultative Organisation—known as I.M.C.O.—a United Nations agency whose objective is to facilitate co-operation among governments on safety at sea and in technical matters of all kinds affecting shipping. The United Kingdom plays an important part in the work of I.M.C.O., including the work it is doing in connection with tonnage measurement.

I.M.C.O. is currently engaged in seeking a universal system of tonnage measurement which could be applied by all nations. At present, there are five main systems in use throughout the world—the British, that of the Scandinavian and certain other countries—which closely resembles the British system; the system used in the U.S.A., and the systems of the Suez and Panama Canals. It will clearly be advantageous if the world can measure its ships in a uniform manner. In that way the acceptance of national tonnage figures by all countries for dues purposes will be facilitated.

At present, there are many reciprocal agreements between countries whose tonnage measurement systems are similar, but these do not apply to all countries and difficulties arise where methods of measure ment differ substantially. A universal system of tonnage measurement would facilitate the acceptance in its ports by any country of the ships of other nations.

In addition—this is a vitally important matter—it would enable safety regulations to be more uniformly applied under international conventions. For instance, the scale of safety equipment required to be carried on board ship depends to some extent on the tonnage of the ship. With a universal measurement system, there would be a more uniform application of those safety rules which are linked to the ship's tonnage.

But there is a pressing reason for introducing the proposed Bill at this time. I.M.C.O., during its work on a universal tonnage measurement system, has recently made a recommendation to Governments on one aspect of tonnage measurement. This is rather complicated and concerns the treatment of what are called "shelter deck" ships. These are ships constructed with what are known as "tonnage openings"; that is, small hatchways cut in the topmost 453 deck. The space between the topmost deck and the next deck below is included in or excluded from the ship's tonnage according to whether or not the tonnage openings are fitted with watertight means of closure.

It may interest the House to know that the concept of this type of ship arises from a legal decision of 1875 to the effect that a permanent closed-in space on the upper deck available for cargo, and so liable for inclusion in the ship's tonnage, must be closed completely and efficiently so as to be fit for the proper protection of cargo.

Most countries now agree that "tonnage openings" from a practical point of view serve no useful purpose, and some even think they are unsafe. The 1960 Conference on the Safety of Life at Sea urged that they should be abolished, and I.M.C.O., in the course of its tonnage measurement work, has agreed on a scheme which eliminates the need for such openings without loss of their benefits.

Adoption of the recommendation now by Great Britain would be very difficult, because our law is so complicated and archaic. Although the recommendation would result in greater flexibility of operation for ship owners, at the same time it could not be done under our present legislation. The regulations will be complicated, but, like all regulations made under the Merchant Shipping Acts, they will he drafted by the Board of Trade in full consultation with the shipping industry and other interests and will be suJject to negative Resolution of the House.

I ask the House to give me leave to introduce the Bill, which will allow the complex matter of tonnage measurement to be dealt with in a modern way by regulations, will enable the I.M.C.O. recommendation to which I have referred to be brought into force, and will make it easier to deal with future developments in this field. It will also simplify and bring together provisions now to be found in a number of Acts of Parliament. I understand that such a Bill will have the support of the Board of Trade and that it will be welcomed by British shipowners, because it will enable them to maintain their competitive position with the ships of other countries which are in process of adopting the I.M.C.O. recommendation.