§ Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to contact and inform owners of small boats registered on the Part 1 Register of British Ships and Seamen that the registration for the life of the boat is no longer applicable and that they must re-register their boats by 21 March or face removal from the register; and [HL407]
What assistance they will give owners of boats registered on the Part 1 Register of British Ships and Seamen if their boats are impounded abroad owing to the original registration no longer being valid. [HL408]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)Substantial publicity has been given to this change. The time period to renew has been extended from three months to up to five years depending on the date of build of the ship. This year registry renewal was given an high profile launch at the London Boat Show by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) with publicity material sent out in a mailshot to 6,000 contacts within the maritime world. This included yacht clubs, marinas, ship-brokers, owners, managers and agents, chandlers, repairers and harbour masters.
Unfortunately entries in the register have become out of date as owners have not always notified the Mac's Registry of Shipping and Seamen Branch when ships have been sold or sunk or when they have moved their address. The records are currently held in paper ledgers and so the cost of a mailshot would be high, with the expectation that up to half would come back undelivered. Therefore it is not cost-effective to send a direct mailshot to registered owners.
However, the Registry of Shipping and Seamen Branch (RSS) has maintained close contact with all recognised industry bodies to keep them aware of developments and publicity material has been made available to them to circulate to their members. Similarly articles have been submitted to the boating press for inclusion and adverts are planned in magazines for publication in January and February 1999. Further publicity is planned for Spring 2000 and then for the following three years.
The RSS is aware of this potential problem and has recently circulated details of registration renewal to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for onward transmission to British consuls throughout the world. A number of measures are in place to cope with the need to issue documents in an emergency. For example, RSS can confirm 95WA registration details by fax to the British consul or port official if owners are impounded abroad. Also the renewal period for late applications, without the need for new documentation, has been extended to up to a year.