82. Mr. Leeasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will give and estimate of the size of tanker fleet necessary to guarantee an adequate flow of oil to this country when it is necessary to take the Cape route; what is the size of the present fleet; and what action he proposes to take to achieve an increase.
§ Mr. WatkinsonA fleet of tankers of about 7 million tons deadweight would be needed to bring sufficient oil to this country to meet normal demands. This assumes that all the oil imported from the Middle East is routed via the Cape.
The present fleet of tankers available for this purpose, including many foreign ships on charter, probably totals under 5 million tons deadweight. The best short-term means of making good the loss of tanker capacity resulting from the haul 16W round the Cape is by transferring tankers to shorter voyages especially those across the Atlantic as is now being done. In conjunction with my right hon. Friend the First Lord I have also taken steps to speed the repair and turn round of tankers during the present shortage in order that the greatest possible use can be made of existing ships.