§ Dr. David Clarkasked the Minister for Trade what information he has as to the number of British registered supply ships operating in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
§ Mr. SproatThere are no official statistics on the number of British-registered supply ships operating in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, but I understand that at the end of January there was none. The hon. Member will know of my concern at this matter, which resulted in a meeting between myself and the Norwegian Minister of Shipping in June 1982, and the setting up of an Anglo-Norwegian working group to investigate whether the Norwegian authorities had set any barriers by way of standards and specifications to the use of British vessels. The Norwegian Minister also publicly underlined his opposition to any kind of official protectionism in this area. I remain disappointed, however, that there has been no real improvement in the use of British vessels, although, following my visit, the first British supply vessel was hired by the Norwegian state oil company Statoil. I am now considering the report of the working group.
§ Dr. David Clarkasked the Minister for Trade when he last had discussions with the Norwegian authorities about British registered supply vessels operating in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. SproatI last had discussions on this subject with the Norwegian Minister for Commerce and Shipping, Mr. Skauge, in June last year, and I intend to raise it when I meet him in March. In the meantime it has been discussed by officials on a number of occasions.