§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether, in view of his answer to the hon. Member for Grimsby on 21 April, he will require reserve buoyancy to be built into floating structures to ensure that they do not sink in the event of catastrophic structural failure.
§ Mr. GrayBritish requirements for damaged stability of floating installations are among the most stringent known. It is impractical or even impossible to build in sufficient reserve buoyancy to cater for every catastrophic structural failure and a better way to enhance safety may be to require more structural redundancy. Relative requirements for redundancy and watertight integrity will be carefully reviewed.