§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has now received the report of the Liberian inquiry into the "Royston Grange" disaster; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael HeseltineI have received a copy of the report of the Liberian Marine Board of Investigation, the Chairman of which was Sir Gordon Willmer, and the decision of the Liberian Commissioner of Maritime Affairs, which has now been published. A copy has also been placed in the Library. In brief, the report inferred that the "Tien Chee", in order to get the best water in view of its deep draught, must have been navigating fairly far over to the southward of the Punta Indio Channel, the effect of which would be to crowd the "Royston Grange" in towards the shelving bank on the south side with the resultant rejection of the "Royston Grange" into collision with the "Tien Chee". The report took the view that if this was what happened, the fault could not be imputed to the "Royston Grange", although it did not exclude the possibility of some human error in the "Royston Grange" in seeking to avoid the collision. The report also found that the master of the "Tien Chee" should bear some responsibility, together with the pilot, for the decision to enter the channel in the tidal conditions prevailing. The report was severely critical of the general neglect to maintain the channel.
I am favourably impressed by the quality of the board's findings and am of 349W the view that a further investigation of the disaster is unlikely to uncover new evidence. However, before reaching a final decision as to whether to hold a British formal investigation, I am sending an inspector to observe the final hearing of the Argentinian administrative tribunal investigating the collision, which is due to take place in a fortnight's time, in case any further evidence emerges.