§ Mr. Strangasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list for each of the last 10 years the number of merchant ships that were available from the merchant navy for use in the event of a war; and what is the number of such ships that are expected to be available in each of the next five years.
§ Mr. David MitchellThe number of ships of 500 GRT or over in the United Kingdom registered merchant fleet including the Isle of Man and Channel islands, was as follows:124W
End Year Number of ships 1977 1,545 1978 1,421 1979 1,305 1980 1,275 1981 1,118 1982 985 1983 866 1984 777 1985 693 1986 546 These ships would have been available for use in the event of war. They would have been supplemented by ships registered in the dependent territories, those made available through the operation of the NATO pool, and other ships open to charter.
The Government do not make forecasts of the size of the merchant fleet, but availability of shipping for defence purposes is closely monitored and a number of initiatives are being taken to help to ensure the future adequacy of these resources.