§ Lord Dixonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many of Mr Justice Colman's recommendation at the end of the re-opened formal investigation into the sinking of "MV Derbyshire" have been implemented; and whether they intend to implement all these recommendations. [HL3499]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe Government continue to give strong support to the safety recommendations made by Mr Justice Colman and will adopt as many recommendations as we can. Mr Justice Colman made recommendations to enhance bulk carrier safety and maritime safety generally. These were addressed to the department, Lloyds66WA Register of Shipping, the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). To be effective the recommendations must be implemented internationally. The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of the IMO has established the International Bulk Carrier Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) Project for this purpose. The UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is taking the leading role in this project. The MCA has also recently sent its FSA submissions to the MSC secretariat.
In consultation with the others to whom recommendations are addressed, the department is working towards preparing a response to each of the recommendations. This response will be presented to Parliament.
§ Lord Dixonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will take steps to ensure that an apology is made to the families of the 44 persons who lost their lives on the "MV Derbyshire", given that, while the assessor at the original formal investigation had concluded that the ship's crew had been negligent, Mr Justice Colman's reopened investigation attributed the sinking to the weakness of the foredeck hatch covers with consequent bow flooding. [HL3500]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe Government pay tribute to the efforts of the families of the "MV Derbyshire" and continue to give strong support to the safety recommendations made by Mr Justice Colman.
We are happy to note here that the new evidence considered by Mr Justice Colman, which had not been available to the assessors at the earlier investigation, indicated that the principal cause of the loss of the "Derbyshire" was structural failure of the foredeck hatch covers.
We have been keen to keep the families informed of the ongoing process of implementing recommendations. At the Royal Institute of Naval Architects' "Design and Operation of Bulk Carriers" international conference in October 2001 we covered the costs of a number of family representatives. One member of the Derbyshire Family Association is being invited to the UK's external briefing of the International Maritime Organisation's Maritime Safety Committee in May and will receive all the session papers.