Ferries (Safety) (Hansard, 2 April 1990)

§ Mr. Parkinson

Immediately after the Herald of Free Enterprise capsised outside Zeebrugge harbour in March 1987 the then Secretary of State announced a public inquiry into the causes of the disaster.

The Sheen inquiry reported in July 1987, and its recommendations have been vigorously followed up by the Department. Firstly, by legislation, both in the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 and in no less than eight sets of statutory instruments laying new requirements on United 383W Kingdom-flag ships. Only one issue—concerning the detail of cargo securing—is still under review. Most of these requirements have also been extended to non-United Kingdom ro-ro passenger ships operating into United Kingdom ports.

Secondly, by requiring all United Kingdom-flag ferries not only to meet all current international stability standards, but in addition, and irrespective of age, to meet the United Kingdom residual stability standards introduced for new vessels in 1980. These standards exceed those applicable to foreign-flag ships, including those trading into United Kingdom ports. All but a handful of the older United Kingdom ships, which are at present being phased out, now meet these higher standards.

The third main Sheen recommendation was for a programme of research to examine the capability of ro-ro passenger ships to survive after sustaining collision damage. It should be noted that Sheen did not imply that current standards of intact stability were inadequate. In fact, all present evidence suggests that any undamaged United Kingdom ferry which complies with today's prescribed standards of intact stability and is operated in a proper and reasonable manner will successfully withstand the rigours of wind and sea likely to be encountered.

The Department of Transport made available £1 million for the research programme. To assist and advise the Department in the management of this programme, a steering committee, including eminent naval architects, was established. I am pleased to say that this important work has now been completed and I have received the steering committee's report. I have today placed copies of the report in the Library, and arranged for copies to be sent to interested parties.

The research programme, carried out by contractors selected by open tender, considered the risks of travel on passenger ro-ro ships; collision resistance; future hull design; internal structure; and how far existing ships met design standards for survivability recently adopted by the IMO and to come into force in April 1990 in respect of new passenger ships. In addition, models were tested in various wave conditions to determine the standards of stability necessary to provide protection against the possibility of rapid capsize of damaged vessels.

An overview report was commissioned to draw together and summarise the results of the research. This report comments in detail on each project, and on the various measures proposed for enhancing survivability, in terms of practicability, benefit and cost. A great deal of valuable information has emerged which should help designers and operators to develop the most suitable ways of improving the survival capability of ro-ro passenger ships. A copy of this overview accompanies the steering committee's report.

The main conclusions and recommendations in the steering committee's report are: (a) that the new internationally agreed standards of residual stability after damage, applicable to all passenger ships built after 29 April 1990, appear to provide reasonable protection against rapid capsize, the United Kingdom should make the report and the overview publicly available. It should be offered to IMO and designers so that account can be taken of the various measures which, if incorporated in future designs, would enable vessels to meet the higher stability standards; (b) that current international standards are not sufficient to rule out the possibility of capsize in respect of existing 384W ferries, the United Kingdom should request IMO to give urgent consideration to the adoption of a higher standard of residual stability for existing ships; (c) if it does not prove possible to achieve early international agreement on an acceptable level of residual stability for existing ro-ro passenger ships, and if the discussions in the IMO forum become unduly protracted, the UK should initiate discussions with European marine administrations. Should that approach fail then the UK should consider the possibility of unilaterally introducing higher standards of residual stability for all existing ro-ro passenger ships operating into UK ports regardless of flag; (d) to assist international consideration, full details of the results of the research programme should be submitted to the fifty-eighth session of the IMO maritime safety committee (21-25 May 1990); (e) further model testing should be carried out with a view to validating conclusions of the theoretical studies on the value of the various measures investigated to improve survivability; (f) ship designers should be urged to pay special attention to the study on collision resistance, and the importance of stem construction and profile shape particularly when bulbous bows are fitted, as they can present a special hazard in the event of collision; (g) the Department should commend the IMO guidelines for safe ship management for adoption by the industry.

I have already taken steps to ensure that these proposals are considered at the IMO maritime safety committee meeting this May. In addition, in order to promote discussion of this very important work, an international symposium devoted entirely to the results of the research programme will be held in London on 26-27 April. I am pleased that the Royal Institution of Naval Architects has agreed to co-sponsor this event, and I expect it to have a major impact internationally on the further development of ro-ro passenger ferry safety.