§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of inspections carried out by the states signatory to the memorandum of understanding on port state control adopted in Paris in 1982, specifying by flag state the number of merchant ships inspected, the proportion of defective ships, the nature of the defects, the action taken against defective ships and the numbers involved, and the extent to which each of the 14 signatories have met the target of inspecting 25 per cent. of the vessels visiting their ports.
§ Mr. RidleyDetails of inspections during the first 12 months after the memorandum of understanding came into effect on 1 July 1982 were set out in a report by the Port State Control Committee representing signatory states. This report was circulated by the International Maritime Organisation in October 1983. I am placing copies in the Library. The report shows that 8,839 ships from 108 countries were inspected in the ports of the 14 participating states. Although detailed figures for the second year are not yet available, some 7,500 inspections had been carried out up to the end of April 1984.
In most cases defects were rectified during the vessel's scheduled stay in port, but 579 ships were delayed or detained to correct serious deficiencies.
The memorandum of understanding requires the signatories to reach the target of inspecting 25 per cent. of the vessels visiting their ports by July 1985. The United Kingdom met the target within the first year but throughout the region the current figure, according to the secretariat of the memorandum of understanding on port state control, is approximately 20 per cent.