§ Mr. PageTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ships have been chartered by his Department to ferry supplies to the Falklands over the last 10 years; if he will list the period of their charter, the flags under which they operate and their ultimate ownership.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe Ministry of Defence ferries dry cargoes to the Falkland Islands using a liner service. This service is maintained by a contractor who is currently required to provide a scheduled shipping service departing the United Kingdom every 28 days. The vessels are chartered by the contractor and the Ministry of Defence is given priority in the allocation of cargo space on the scheduled voyages. In addition 10 tankers have been chartered by the Ministry of Defence over the last 10 years for periods ranging from two months to the current tanker which has been on charter since October 1987. The tankers have mostly delivered fuel to the Falklands as part of a schedule that includes Ascension Island and Cyprus. Records are not complete back to 1982 but the flags have included Bermuda, Denmark, Norway, Singapore and United Kingdom. The present vessel is on the Isle of Man register. The ultimate owner of these vessels is not generally known to my Department as the charter is with the operator who is, in most cases, not the owner.