HL Deb 15 March 1989 vol 505 cc324-5WA
Lord Hill-Norton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the number of ships of 500 GRT or over in the United Kingdom registered merchant fleet on 30th June 1959, 1969, 1979 and 1988.

Lord Brabazon of Tara

Information in the form requested is available only for 1988. The number of ships of 500 GRT or over in the United Kingdom registered merchant fleet on 30th June 1988 was 905; these figures include non-trading vessels. However, information for the years requested is available for trading vessels of 500 GRT and over. The number of such vessels registered in the United Kingdom were:—

1959* 1969* 1979* 1988
3,035 2,036 1,369 398

*Figures for 1959, 1969 and 1979 include a small but unknown number of vessels registered in the United Kingdom Crown dependencies.

Lord Hill-Norton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the number of the United Kingdom owned/British Islands registered trading fleet of 500 GRT and above at 31st December in 1975, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988, and what proportion of the world trading fleet each of these figures represents.

Lord Brabazon of Tara

The numbers of United Kingdom owned trading vessels of 500 GRT and over registered in the British Islands were as follows:

1975 1980 1985 1986 1987 1988
1,614 1,143 627 496 462 437

Information on numbers of vessels of the world trading fleet is available only for those of 100 GRT and over. On this basis the percentages were:

4.6 3.0 1.7 1.4 1.3 1.2

Lord Hill-Norton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the number of trading vessels over 100 GRT in the United Kingdom merchant fleet (including United Kingdom Crown Dependencies, but not United Kingdom Dependent Territories) at 30th June in each of the years 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1988.

Lord Brabazon of Tara

The numbers of trading vessels over 100 GRT in the United Kingdom merchant fleet (including Crown dependencies, but excluding British dependent territories overseas) were as follows:

at 30th June
1981 1983 1985 1987[1] 1988
1,552 1,260 1,074 797 742
[1] From 1987 a new definition of 'trading' was adopted. Figures of ships for 1987 and 1988 are not strictly comparable with earlier years.

Lord Hill-Norton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

The numbers of (a) officers and (b) ratings in the GCBS register of United Kingdom registered vessels covered by United Kingdom NMB agreements and non-United Kingdom registered vessels covered by GCBS manning policy, at 31st December for the years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1987 and 1988.

Lord Brabazon of Tara

The following figures are derived from the annual Fleet and Manpower Inquiry conducted by the General Council of British Shipping. Information is not yet available for 1988.

30th September 31st December
1975 1980 1985 1987
Officers 34,840 28,158 14,628 10,323
Ratings 50,857 36,306 21,349 17,721