§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he has received the report on the study of marine traffic in the English Channel; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisI have just received a joint Anglo-French report compiled by our National Maritime Institute and the French Institut de Recherche des Transports. It analyses the results of a detailed marine traffic survey covering three days in June 1977. Copies are being placed in the Library.
357WThe report shows that the volume of traffic observed in the Dover Strait in last summer's survey—about 300 through vessels per day—was similar to that in 1972. Since that time the collision rate has considerably reduced. There were nearly 200 crossing vessels per day.
Ships passing through the Strait which contravened the provisions of the Traffic separation scheme fell from 22 per day in 1972 to six per day in 1977 and have since fallen further. More westbound traffic used the westbound lane in preference to the English inshore zone than before.
The number of tankers carrying crude oil through the Channel averaged 38 per day.
While there was general compliance with routing principles off Casquets, off Ushant and off the Lizard, the percentage of contravening vessels was considerably higher than is now the case in the Dover Strait. New surveillance measures are being planned with this in mind. The traffic pattern north of Cherbourg is complex and a further survey of this area, including radar recording and ship identification, is recommended.
The report confirms the interdependence of the various traffic separation schemes in the Channel and recommends the requirement for integrated traffic management from the Western Approaches to the southern North Sea, and also the need to take account of future oil exploration.