HL Deb 20 June 1979 vol 400 c1099WA
Lord KENNET

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the provision of equipment for offloading liquid gas from stranded carriers will be the responsibility of the Government or of the operating companies.

Lord TREFGARNE

As the noble Lord was informed on 27th March 1979 an LNG or refrigerated LPG carrier can only be offloaded into a compatible gas tanker. If the receiving vessel can be brought alongside the stricken vessel, the transfer can be effected using well proven techniques and the equipment already on board. Although a joint Government-industry development project is under negotiation, suitable hoses for longer distance transfer are not yet available. It would, therefore, be premature to consider the arrangements for the provision of such hoses.