§ Mr. Moynihanasked the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements his Department has for the maintenance of the specialised salvage equipment held for use in oil or chemical tanker emergencies at sea.
§ Mr. David MitchellThe task of maintaining and storing the emergency cargo transfer equipment owned by my Department has been transferred from the Ministry of Defence to United Towing Ltd.
This equipment, consisting primarily of specialised pumps for transferring oil or chemical cargo from a tanker, is owned by my Department to ensure immediate availability in a pollution emergency around the United Kingdom. Until recently it has been stored in two separate depots at Pembroke and Rosyth naval dockyards, where it has been maintained by Ministry of Defence staff. It will now be held centrally at United Towing's headquarters in Hull and maintained by it alongside its own stocks of similar equipment, which it holds for world-wide deployment. In an emergency United Towing will also provide a team of operators for the equipment, to be mobilised at two hours' notice and deployed anywhere around the United Kingdom coastline. The new arrangements will ensure a better response capability and more cost effective storage and maintenance.