§ Sir R. Glynasked the Minister of Transport on what grounds has it been decided to remove the No. 268 pattern radar from merchant ships at present on hire from the Government, which are giving complete satisfaction; what will be the loss of rental; and for what reason have shipowners been informed that these sets may not he purchased at valuation.
§ Mr. BarnesType 268 radar sets were made available for hire to the Merchant Navy at the end of the recent war as a stop-gap until sets designed for Merchant 203W Navy use became available. Although they have been very useful in the absence of anything better, they fall considerably below the standard of my Department's specification for navigational radar with which current types of specially-designed British sets comply.
It has always been a condition of hire of a type 268 set that, subject to a minimum period of hire, it would be liable to withdrawal when a satisfactory type of radar specially designed for use by the Merchant Navy became generally available. It is because that condition has now been fulfilled that systematic withdrawal of type 268 sets is now being considered. There is no intention of depriving any vessel of a 268 set before an up-to-date set is available. Some 40 sets have already been voluntarily surrendered. These sets are not being made available for purchase at valuation because of their shortcomings in performance and because stocks of certain spare parts will soon be exhausted. The loss of rental when all the sets have been withdrawn will be about £37.500 per annum.