§ Mr. Hector Hughesasked the First Lord of the Admiralty what orders for the building and repairing, respectively, of ships have been placed with Aberdeen shipbuilders during each of the years 1952, 1953 and 1954 to date; and, of these, what orders have been placed since the 1954 Budget.
§ Mr. J. P. L. ThomasLicences issued for the construction of merchant ships in Aberdeen were:
Year Ships Total tonnage (gross tons) 1952 3 3,360 1953 13 17,890 1954 to date Nil Nil Particulars of orders for merchant ship repairs are not available: the following figures show the repair work in progress at Aberdeen on specific dates in the years quoted:
As regards orders for new ships in 1954, I must again explain that shipbuilders do not report the orders they have received until they apply for licences.
Date Ships Total tonnage (gross tons) 18th December, 1952 8 2,619 31st December, 1953 8 1,858 13th May, 1954 9 2,034