§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what monitoring has been done of the operation of the voluntary ban on tankers over 10,000 tonnes gross58W registererd tonnage using the passage between Grassholm and Skomer islands; and how many vessels are known to have broken the ban since it was introduced.
§ Mr. NorrisNone. The Department is unaware of any breaches of the internationally agreed recommendation that large laden tankers should avoid the Grassholm channel. Nevertheless, Lord Donaldson's report, "Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas", announced to the House on 17 May, recommends a traffic survey of the areas for a limited but representative period, and we are considering how best to respond to this recommendation.