§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he can estimate the percentage of total orders placed by British shipowners for merchant vessels in each of the last 10 years which have been placed with British shipyards.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisThe information in respect of orders for registration in the United Kingdom is as follows:
thousand gross registered tons (GRT)) (a) (b) (c) Total Orders United Kingdom yards (b) as a percentage of (a) 1968 4,206 1,452 3.45 1969 5,473 1,721 31.4 1970 8,113 1,473 18.2 1971 2,862 833 29.1 1972 2,632 599 22.8 1973 6,167 3,737 60.6 1974 1,433 332 23.2 1975 338 44 13.0 1976 499 181 36.3 1977 434 351 80.9 1978* 153 74 48.1 * January to September Of total orders placed in United Kingdom shipyards over the 10 year period the following proportions were for United Kingdom registration:
per cent. 1968 … … 56.6 1969 … … 81.2 1970 … … 84.0 1971 … … 81.1 1972 … … 73.2 1973 … … 85.8 1974 … … 38.5 1975 … … 60.3 1976 … … 45.0 1977 … … 72.4