§ Dr. Godmanasked the Secretary of State for Transport what regulations govern the carriage of immersion suits aboard British registered merchant ships.
§ Mr. RidleyThere are no regulations governing the carriage of immersion suits on board British registered ships at present, but I shall shortly be laying draft regulations before the House requiring the carriage of immersion suits on certain new United Kingdom registered ships. These are intended to come into effect on 1 July. Further regulations, extending this requirement to existing ships, will be introduced by 1991 to give effect to amendments to the 1974 SOLAS convention.
§ Dr. Godmanasked the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department has about whether other European Community countries require immersion suits to be carried on fishing vessels registered in those countries.
§ Mr. RidleyBelgium, Denmark, Holland and West Germany have no such requirements for fishing vessels under 100m in length. French regulations, however, require the carriage of immersion suits for all on board fishing vessels over 15m in length which go more than 30 miles to sea. I have no information about other EC countries.
§ Dr. Godmanasked the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has now had with the fishing industry about the compulsory carriage of immersion suits aboard fishing vessels.
§ Mr. RidleyNone, but the industry will be consulted shortly in the current review of the Fishing Vessels (Safety Provisions) Rules 1975.