§ 65. Mr. Awberyasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what proportion of the fleet oil tankers and naval vessels are equipped with oil separators; how much oil is recovered by this process; to what extent it is usable after recovery; what is its value; and if he will give an assurance that all naval vessels now under construction are having oil separators installed in them.
Mr. WardNo warships at present on active service are fitted with separators. Rather more than half of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary dry cargo ships are fitted with separators which can deal with both oily bilge and ballast water; 20 per cent. of Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers are fitted with bilge separators, and approximately 15 per cent. of the tankers are fitted in addition with cargo tank separators. Separators are also fitted in the Royal Yacht, and in four special Royal Fleet Auxiliaries used for cleaning ships' tanks.
The quantity of usable oil produced by bilge separators is usually negligible; but the washings of a thirteen thousand tons cargo of furnace fuel oil, for example, can contain up to 20 tons of usable oil. It is not possible to assess the total amount recovered by the equipments fitted in the tankers and dry cargo ships, as the conditions of their employment vary considerably. Each of the four special tank-cleaning vessels, however, recovers some one thousand tons of usable oil in the course of a year's working. The value of oil recovered by these methods is between seven and eight pounds a ton.
Oily water separators are only necessary for warships and dry cargo vessels which regularly use their fuel tanks for the carriage of water ballast. The classes of new construction which are affected are being fittted with the necessary equipment.