§ Mr. CarmichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answers of 28 November 2001,Official Report, column 935W, on the Braer, what assessment his Department made of the Marine Accidents Investigation Board conclusion that the tanker Braer was seaworthy when it entered British territorial waters. [62250]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Department has no reason to question the assessment made by the Marine Accidents Investigation Branch that the tanker Braer was seaworthy at the start of her final voyage.
§ Mr. CarmichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2001,Official Report, column 935W, on the Braer, on what grounds the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents decided that the logbooks did not constitute new and important evidence. [62251]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents carefully examined the copies of the logbooks kept by the shore loading terminal and noted that reference was made to 'steam line problems'. The grounds on which he made his assessment was that while the entries would have been made based on information provided by the ship, the overwhelming evidence from every other source indicates that the problems on board were confined to feedwater pipework and not the steam system. This was freely admitted but did not constitute the vessel being declared unseaworthy.
The Chief Inspector has, therefore, concluded that the logbooks do not constitute "new and important" evidence to justify the re-opening of the Braer investigation.