§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what records are kept by his Department of the number of shipping accidents there have been in the coastal waters of the United Kingdom, involving(a) collisions, (b) groundings and (c) sinkings; how far the records go back; and what is the date of the latest records available.
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§ Mr. McLoughlinThe records kept show the numbers of collisions and groundings for each year for United Kingdom merchant vessels over 100 gross tons and United Kingdom fishing vessels, on a worldwide basis, back to 1972. They also show individual merchant and fishing vessels lost from any cause in each year.
The information for the years 1972–88 is available in the Department's publication "Casualties to Vessels and Accidents to Men". This publication was discontinued with the setting up of the marine accident investigation branch (MAIB) in July 1989. For 1989—the latest year for which figures are currently available—the information is contained in the MAIB publication "Review for 1989"
The figures for the past 10 years are as follows:
Year Collisions and contacts Strandings and Groundings Losses (all causes) Merchant vessels 1980 153 49 8 1981 125 45 11 1982 154 44 4 1983 107 25 5 1984 91 35 5 1985 69 28 6 1986 55 21 4 1987 46 16 5 1988 56 22 6 1989 62 28 3 Fishing vessels 1980 23 26 39 1981 20 25 52 1982 38 29 50 1983 26 33 42 1984 15 36 41 1985 22 32 40 1986 21 33 19 1987 13 40 14 1988 19 55 22 1989 46 51 22