§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the individual amounts of expenditure laid out by his Department in the attempt to recover the lost container of lindane in the Channel.
§ Mr. PortilloThe container of lindane was on board MV Perintis which sank in international waters in the English Channel on 13 March.
As the result of an Anglo-French air-sea search the floating container of lindane was located in a French area of responsibility on 15 March and taken under tow towards Cherbourg by the French authorities. While in transit the container was lost again. The French have subsequently carried out a very extensive but unsuccessful search but have not sought—or required—British assistance.
The exact location of the container is still unknown but is thought to be about 15 km north-west of Cap de la 104W Hague, in a sector of the Channel for which the French authorities are fully responsible for taking counter-pollution action. Accordingly the Department has not been involved in the search.
Only £302.24 has been expended by the Department in the search for the lindane, on an aerial surveillance flight by an MPCU aircraft on 15 March as part of the initial, successful, search for the floating container.