§ Lord Sefton of Garstonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have arrived at any conclusion in regard to safety at sea following the loss of life in the "Herald of Free Enterprise" and whether they will publish their conclusions.
§ Lord Brabazon of TaraThe Government regard safety as an overriding priority on ferries, as on other means of transport. Most of the recommendations in the report of the Court of Inquiry into the tragic loss of the "Herald of Free Enterprise" related to operational procedures. The Government have introduced a considerable amount of legislation, following up all those recommendations, to ensure that the immediate cause of the loss should not be repeated.
The control of operational procedures achieved by these new regulations, and the Merchant Shipping Act 1988, has been supplemented by the traditional enforcement work of the Department of Transport marine surveyors to ensure the fitness of the ship and its crew. Increased numbers of random and unannounced inspections have taken place.
In addition, we have announced that 1980 stability standards must be met by all existing ro-ro's. However, the Government recognise that further design improvements may be possible. To follow through the court's recommendations on this, work is well advanced on a wide ranging programme of research to study other means of improving the safety of ro-ro ferries. This includes a proper evaluation of various methods of enhancing residual stability, and until the work is completed it is not possible to say what is or is not acceptable in terms of ferry design. When the results of the research have been fully assessed, the conclusions will be made publicly available.