§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will seek to change maritime law to provide for adequate compensation to structures damaged by ships.
§ Mr. PortilloUnder an international convention agreed in 1976, which came into operation under United Kingdom law on 1 December 1986, shipowners can limit their liability in respect of damage caused by ships. The International Maritime Organisation is to review the limits in the 1976 convention, and as part of that review we will be pressing for a significant increase in the present limits. Parliament decided on the liability regime to be applied to pilots and pilotage authorities as recently as 1987 with the passage of the Pilotage Act 1987.