MOTION FOR A PAPER. (Hansard, 28 March 1882)

§ THE EARL OF DUNMORE
, in rising to call the attention of the House to the accident that occurred to the South-Eastern Railway Company's Steamship "Victoria" on Tuesday last, the 21st March, off Boulogne, and to move for a copy of the certificate granted to that vessel by the Board of Trade, said, that on Tuesday last he was a passenger by the Victoria, which left Folkestone at 11.39 a.m. There was a strong westerly wind, with rough sea, and, the machinery breaking down, the vessel drifted for some time up Channel, but eventually reached Calais harbour in the afternoon. The ship could carry over 300 passengers, and yet there were only two small boats on board, which would not hold more than eight people each, and he should be very sorry to be one of them. It was a great sin to send such a ship to sea with only two small boats to fall back upon in an emergency. The travelling public deserved more care and attention. They relied upon Parliament to make laws for their protection, and they looked to the Railway and Shipping Companies to carry out those laws in their integrity. Either the Companies had failed to carry out the regulations of the Board of Trade, or those regulations were insufficient. All he now asked was that some inquiry should be made into the matter, and he would move that a copy of the certificate granted to the vessel by the Board of Trade should be laid before the House.

§ LORD SUDELEY
My Lords, in reply to the noble Earl, I have to state that the steamer Victoria holds a certificate from the Board of Trade, authorizing her to carry 356 passengers between Folkestone and Boulogne. The boats she carries are two in number—one of them is a lifeboat and the other a jolly boat, capable of carrying 40 statute adults—namely, 25 and 15 persons respectively. She likewise carries two lifebuoys fit and ready for use. These boats are carried in accordance with a hard-and-fast scale contained in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, under which ships are required to be provided 140 with boats, not at all in accordance with the number of passengers they may carry, but in accordance with the net registered tonnage of the ships; and as the size of ships is increasing, and owing to the operation of the tonnage laws, the register tonnage is decreasing, it follows that more passengers may be carried in a steamer provided with fewer boats than at the time of the passing of the Act. The Board of Trade have power to approve of liferafts in substitution for the boats required by statute, but not, as is often erroneously supposed, in addition to those boats. As regards the accident, it appears to have been very much as stated by the noble Earl. The Victoria left Folkestone for Boulogne at 11.30 on the 21st of March, with a crew of 21 men and 112 passengers. She encountered a strong breeze, with rough sea; and at 1.10 p.m., while going at the rate of 13 knots an hour, she was struck by a heavy sea. The crank pin of her port engine broke, and it took two hours to disconnect the engines, during which time, being in a disabled state, she drifted for about two hours, going about six miles up Channel. It certainly appeared that the number of boats was in accordance with the number prescribed by the Act of 1854. As soon as the engines were disconnected, she proceeded with her starboard engine, and arrived at Calais at 5 minutes to 4 o'clock. There will be no objection to lay the certificate of the Board of Trade on the Table, together with a Copy of the sections of the Acts of Parliament bearing upon the subject of boats and of the Board's instructions.

§ LORD SUDELEY
said, that the ship, according to Act of Parliament, was bound to carry one lifeboat capable of carrying 25 passengers and one boat capable of carrying 15 passengers. He could not say at that moment whether she carried those boats or not; but he had no reason for supposing that she did not.