Eurotunnel

HC Deb 18 October 1989 vol 158 c129W

Mr. Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a further statement on the arrangements for financing Eurotunnel insofar as they fall within his responsibility.

Mr. Portillo

Responsibility for Channel tunnel financing arrangements is entirely a matter for Eurotunnel.

Mr. Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on measures to ensure security in the Eurotunnel, and arrangements to identify explosives in any vehicle.

Mr. Portillo

The Government take very seriously the need to protect the tunnel and those who will use it. A security check regime will be required. It would not be appropriate for me to make a statement on the details of the security arrangements.

Mr. Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he anticipates that Eurotunnel will be open to traffic.

Mr. Portillo

I understand that Eurotunnel's projected opening date is 15 June 1993.

Trading vessels registered in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and the Dependent Territories: 1979–89
Registry															Thousand tons
	United Kingdom	Crown Dependencies	Dependent Territories (excluding Hong Kong)	Hong Kong	Total Trading Fleet
Year	No..	Grt	Dwt	No..	Grt	Dwt	No..	Grt	Dwt	No..	Grt	Dwt	No..	Grt	Dwt
1979	1,756	26,905	44,296	0	0	0	236	1,902	3,210	87	1,443	2,231	2,079	30,250	49,737
1980	1,698	26,070	43,013	0	0	0	266	1,917	3,237	98	1,691	2,643	2,062	29,678	48,893
1981	1,552	24,417	40,473	0	0	0	250	757	1,154	132	2,553	4,060	1,934	27,728	45,688
1982	1,374	21,388	35,085	48	59	69	256	741	1,159	158	3,469	5,670	1,836	25,658	41,984
1983	1,217	18,103	29,000	43	45	47	308	1,345	2,145	183	4,348	7,237	1,751	23,841	38,429
1984	1,096	14,773	23,157	55	87	120	312	1,366	2,247	224	5,748	9,573	1,687	21,975	35,097
1985	1,019	13,236	20,805	55	103	138	337	1,905	3,022	265	6,813	11,314	1,676	22,057	35,230
1986	902	10,285	15,593	59	287	442	413	4,135	6,834	285	8,120	13,642	1,659	22,827	36,511
1987	734	5,578	7,371	112	1,913	3,468	377	5,358	9,406	281	7,974	13,446	1,504	20,822	33,692
1988	685	5,091	6,452	116	2,120	3,806	351	7,142	13,242	260	7,266	12,327	1,412	21,619	35,826
1989	573	4,328	5,351	115	2,084	3,749	280	7,053	13,227	286	6,189	10,470	1,254	19,655	32,797

Notes:

1. Vessels registered in the Crown Dependencies during 1979, 1980 and 1981 are included in the United Kingdom statistics for those years.

2. 'Grt' stands for 'Gross Registered Tonnage'.

3. 'Dwt' stands for 'Deadweight tonnage'.

4. The Crown Dependencies include the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

5. The main Dependent Territories' registers are Gibraltar, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

6. The figures exclude non-trading type vessels such as tugs, off-shore supply ships and fishing vessels.