§ Mr. Gammansasked the Minister of Transport how many Liberty and Victory ships have been purchased from the U.S.A.; how much was paid for each type; and why it was not possible to keep these ships on time charter in view of the surplus of unused ships in the U.S.A.
§ Mr. BarnesUnited Kingdom shipowners have been authorised to buy from the United States approximately 100 "Liberty "ships and about 40 ships of faster types, including "Victory" ships Bids for eight of the faster ships have been accepted by the United States authorities and seven of these have been delivered to the purchasers. The remaining bids, including all those for "Liberty" ships, are still under consideration by the United States Government. The terms of sale are laid down in the United States Ship Sales Act. The price for the ships varies according to age, but on average amounts to about one million dollars per ship for the faster type and about half that amount for the "Liberty" type.
On the last part of his Question, the hon Member will understand that, whilst the "Liberty" ships concerned are some of those on bareboat charter to His Majesty's Government, the faster type ships have not been on such charter. The United States Government still has under consideration the proposals made by His Majesty's Government regarding the rate of return of those "Liberty" ships now on bareboat charter and not to be pur- 226W chased. I would refer the hon. Member on this point to the reply I gave on 10th February to the hon. Member for Montrose Burghs (Mr. Maclay).