§ 19. Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the President of the Board of Trade what decrease there has been in the British coastal fleet in the last 10 years; and if he will make an estimate of the percentage of this which is due to capture of this trade by Great Britain's Continental competitors.
§ Mr. MasonThe only statistics available relate to the average tonnage of the British dry cargo fleet employed in the United Kingdom coastal trade, which has decreased by about 200,000 deadweight over the last 10 years. The proportion of the decrease due to the capture of this trade by Continental competitors was negligible as the total average tonnage of foreign vessels employed in the United Kingdom dry cargo coastal trade was less than 10,000 deadweight in both 1955 and 1965.