§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to delegate to classification societies(a) hull and machinery surveys on ferries and (b) any other inspections currently carried out by the Marine Safety Agency. [19296]
§ Mr. NorrisRegulations to allow the delegation of hull and machinery surveys on passenger ships are expected to be laid before Parliament shortly. These will not include delegation of hull and machinery surveys for roll-on roll-off ferries which will continue to be conducted by surveyors from the Marine Safety Agency. Pending the completion of work on ferry safety currently being undertaken in the International Maritime Organisation following the loss of the Estonia, it has been decided not to delegate these surveys to the originally planned timescale. There are no plans to delegate inspections currently carried out by the Marine Safety Agency.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many ships, excluding ferries, have been prevented from sailing by the Marine Safety Agency because they have not met safety standards over the last two years; which flags they were sailing under; and in which respects they failed to meet the standards. [19298]
§ Mr. NorrisThis is an operational matter for the Marine Safety Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from R. M. Bradley to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 25 April 1995:
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your Question about the number of foreign flagged ships, excluding ferries, which have been prevented from sailing by the Marine Safety Agency (MSA) over the last two years.Between January and December 1993 the Surveyor General's Organisation (as the MSA then was) detained 174 foreign flagged ships. Over the same period in 1994, the MSA detained 224 vessels. The ships were registered with the following states.501W
- Flag state
- Antilles Netherlands
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Belize
- Bulgaria
- Union of Myanmar
- People's Republic of China
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Guinea-Bissau
- Honduras
- Iceland
- India
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Lithuania
- Luxemburg
- Malta
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Nigeria
- Norway
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Spain
- St. Vincent and Grenadines
- Sweden
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
In general, vessels were detained for failure to meet the standards for life saving, fire detection and fire fighting equipment, contravention of the load line provisions, deficiencies in radio installation, navigational equipment and the ship's structure. Detention was also imposed for failure to meet manning requirements and poor operational procedures. A summary of the defects which led to the detention of a ship can be found in the list of ships under detention in UK ports which has been published by the MSA each month since June 1994.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many ferries have been prevented from sailing by the Marine Safety Agency because they have not met safety standards over the last two years; which flags they were flying under; and in which respects they failed to meet the standards. [19299]
Mr. MorrisThis is an operational matter for the Marine Safety Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from R. M. Bradley to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 25 April 1995: 502W
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your Question about the number of ferries prevented from sailing by the Marine Safety Agency (MSA) over the last two years.One ferry has been detained by the MSA in the last two years. In October 1994, during the inspection campaign conducted by the MSA after the loss of the ESTONIA, the Danish registered WINSTON CHURCHILL was detained when her stern door was found to be leaking after a hose test, due to failure of the rubber seal.