§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the roll-on/roll-off ferries which operate in Scottish waters, indicating which routes they operate on and whether they comply with the proposed new IMO stability criteria;
(2) how many of the ferries which operate in Scottish waters were included in the recent IMO survey of standards of residual damage stability for passenger ships; and how many met the new IMO criteria.
§ Mr. David MitchellA list of the 56 roll-on/roll-off ferries that normally operate in Scottish waters, and the areas in which they operate, will be placed in the Library. All these ferries comply with the present international safety standards. The study into the standards of residual stability of passenger ships sponsored by my Department compared the standards attained by a representative sample of existing ships with the standards proposed for new ships, which are not yet in force. There are as yet no new IMO criteria.