§ Mr. Terry DavisTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the result of the meeting of the maritime safety committee of the international maritime organisation to discuss the report of its specialist sub-committee on the stability of roll on/roll off ferries in May.
§ Mr. McLoughlin[holding answer 17 June 1991]: One of the many subjects given detailed consideration by the maritime safety committee was the residual stability standards of existing roll on/roll off passenger ships. After two weeks discussion the committee agreed that:
- (a) the standard of residual stability applicable to new passenger ships should be applied to existing roll on/roll off passenger ships;
- (b) the implementation of that standard should be phased-in, dealing first with those ships having the lowest standard of survivability and that the starting date of the first phase should be October 1994;
87 - (c) the length of the phasing-in period would depend to a significant extent on the results of calculations undertaken to determine the survivability standards of individual ships but it should not exceed 5 years.
Final decisions on the phasing-in period and the adoption of an amendment to the convention will be made by the committee in April 1992, after considering the further advice requested from the specialist stability sub-committee.