§ Lord Ironsideasked Her Majesty's Government:
(a) what is the present number and total tonnage of UK-owned and registered vessels of 500 and 1,000 gross registered tonnes and above; and (b) to what extent action taken by Shell Tankers (UK) Ltd to re-register most of their fleet under an international flag of convenience in the Isle of Man will reduce the number and total tonnage of UK-owned and registered vessels.
§ Lord Brabazon of Tara: At the end of August 1986, the latest date for which figures are available, the UK-owned and registered fleet of vessels over 500 gross registered tonnes comprised 528 ships with a total tonnage of 10.6 million deadweight tonnes.
707WA Vessels registered in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands and vessels registered in the UK but owned by companies or persons resident in the dependent terrotories are normally included in the statistics for the UK-registered fleet, but have been excluded from these figures. Statistics for vessels over 1,000 grt are not readily available.
At that time Shell Tankers (UK) Ltd had (and still has) 34 vessels with a total tonnage of 3.8 million deadweight tonnes on the UK register. The reduction in the number and total tonnage of UK-owned and registered vessels as a result of re-registration by the company of its vessels in the Isle of Man will depend upon the final decisions of the company; their announced intentions are to register 23 vessels in the Isle of Man (2.9 dwt) and retain 3 (0.3m dwt) on the UK register. A decision has not yet been taken about the remaining 8 vessels (0.5m dwt).
708WA The Isle of Man is a Crown Dependency. Ships registered there are British and fly the Red Ensign.