§ 119. Commander Courtneyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what are the technical feasibility and the estimated cost of transferring the defence support facilities now available at the Aden base to the island of Socotra.
§ Mr. HealeyThe transfer would present severe technical problems. For example, no harbour or sheltered anchorage exists, and weather conditions would make it difficult and expensive to build one. No estimate of the total cost of transfer could be given without a detailed survey; but to create a base of this magnitude, from scratch, on an undeveloped and remote island would certainly cost scores of millions of pounds.