§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what are the minimum requirements for manning and certificates of competency for both deck and engine departments on a British tanker of 12,600 gross tons.
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§ Mr. Michael Heseltine, pursuant to his reply—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 26th June 1973]—gave the following information:
A master, a mate and two engineers all of whom must be duly certificated. If more than one mate is carried, at least the first mate and second mate must be certificated. The recommended minimum scale for deck manning is a boatswain and nine able seamen, but the number of seamen may be reduced to seven if the ship is fitted with an automatic pilot, steel hatches and an alarm system for summoning the watch below. There is no corresponding scale for engine-room manning.