Merchant Fleet (Hansard, 15 December 1993)

§ Mr. MacGregor

The Government's economic and fiscal policies, which have produced low interest rates, low inflation and low taxation, have benefited industry as a whole, including shipping. However, where I can, I am keen to bring forward additional measures which help the shipping industry.

Accordingly, following extensive public consultation, new regulations governing the registration of ships in the United Kingdom were made today and will shortly be laid before Parliament in accordance with section 3 of the Merchant Shipping (Registration, etc.) Act 1993. These regulations represent a considerable simplification and consolidation of the existing mix of primary and secondary legislation which deals with the registration of merchant ships, small ships and fishing vessels, as well as the approval of names. I have no doubt that they will be welcomed by all who have to use them.

In addition the new regulations will, for the first time, allow bareboat chartered vessels to be brought on to the United Kingdom register for the duration of the charter period. I hope that this flexibility will encourage more British shipowners to fly the Red Ensign.

It is my intention that these regulations should come into force on 21 March 1994.

Secondly, I will shortly be consulting on changes to the current merchant navy office nationality rules. Under the new proposal the intention is that there should be no officer nationality requirements for United Kingdom registered ships except for certain "strategic" ships which will still be required to have a British, British Commonwealth, NATO or EC national as master.

I recognise that in allowing shipowners the option of employing non-United Kingdom officers, appropriate measures will be required to ensure that safety is not compromised. The proposed relaxation will, therefore, be accompanied by a scheme of licensing to ensure that all 695W non-United Kingdom officers are not only professionally competent but have a good command of the English language and that masters have an appropriate level of understanding of British maritime law. A licence will be pre-requisite both to initial employment and to continuing employment on board a British flagged ship.

When these two measures are introduced—which, subject to the consultation, should be no later than spring 1994—the Government will have given effect to all the recommendations of the 1990 joint working party on British shipping.

This Government have a strong commitment to the training of British seafarers which, we recognise, is of vital importance to the long-term health of the industry and to associated onshore maritime businesses.

The present Government assistance for training scheme is a very successful form of support for our merchant shipping industry. The scheme, which has its origins in the 1988 Merchant Shipping Act, allows financial support to be given towards the cost of training officers and ratings to the standard of a first certificate of competency for service in merchant ships. Since its inception almost 2,000 cadets have benefited from the scheme at the aggregate cost of £11.6 million.

But I recognise that it is now appropriate to offer additional help to encourage the introduction of NVQ/SVQ training for those at sea while at the same time creating a pool of British officers with a career structure which will take them from cadet to senior officer level. I have, therefore, decided to extend training support to British junior officers while they are studying for their higher certificates of competency. With on-board assessment it should be possible for trainees to reach class 2 levels of competency within 12-18 months.

The new scheme will initially be for a trial period of three years. Assistance will take the form of a per capita cash contribution. The £1.5 million which will be made available in the first year will be targeted at helping those cadets who have been through the GAFF scheme and who, therefore, hold a first certificate of competency. Priority will be given to junior officers employed on ships on the British register.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment has not only been able to confirm his willingness to continue to support the GAFT scheme but has also been able to commit resources to ensure the successful launch and ongoing assessment of this NVQ/SVQ initiative.

I believe that this package of measures represents further evidence of the Government's continuing commitment to the United Kingdom merchant fleet.