§ Mr. N. Macleanasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that a number of British shipowners, including Clyde firms engaged in coasting traffic, have placed orders for new tonnage in Dutch shipyards, where shipbuilders are subsidised by their Governments and tradesmen are paid lower rates and receive no extra payment for overtime, in preference to Clyde shipbuilders, some of whom have been experiencing difficulty in securing materials owing to the Government's rearmament programme; whether the firms concerned qualify for payments under the tramp shipping subsidy scheme; and whether he proposes to take any action?
Mr. StanleyThere are no official statistics of orders placed by British firms for the construction of ships in Holland; but the vessels added to the United Kingdom Register since the beginning of the year include a number of tankers and small vessels for the coasting trade recently built in Holland. According to information in the Press, there are also a number of similar vessels being built at present for British owners in Dutch yards. None of these vessels could qualify for tramp shipping subsidy under the British Shipping Assistance Acts, which require that vessels completed after 1st January, 1936, must have been built in the United Kingdom in order to qualify for subsidy in 1937. I am not aware of any further action that I could usefully take.
§ Mr. Kellyasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the number of ships ordered by British firms to be constructed in German yards in the last 12 months?
Mr. StanleyThere are no official statistics of orders placed by British firms for the construction of ships in Germany; but according to the returns of the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen, the number of steam and motor vessels of 100 tons gross and over (including fishing vessels) of recent German construction which have been registered in the United732W Kingdom since the 1st November, 1936, is 17, totalling 42,000 tons gross.