HC Deb 20 October 1949 vol 468 cc69-70W
90. Sir F. Sanderson

asked the Minister of Transport what is the gross tonnage of all British registered shipping afloat which is 15 years old, 20 years old and over 20 years old; and what was the gross tonnage output of new ships from all British yards for 1946, 1947 and 1948, and the total number of workers employed for each of these years.

Mr. Callaghan

At the end of 1948 the United Kingdom tonnage of vessels of 500 gross tons and over amounted to 16.0 million gross tons; of this 1.3 million gross tons was of 15 and under 20 years, and 3.9 million gross tons was 20 years old and over. The gross tonnages of new merchant ships of 100 gross tons and over completed in United Kingdom yards in 1946, 1947 and 1948 and the corresponding number of workers employed on merchant ship construction in June of these three years were as follows:

Year Gross Tons Number of Workers
1946 986,709 63,300
1947 948,847 68,100
1948 1,220,884 72,500

Note: The figures of new building refer to total output and thus include ships for overseas owners.