§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will specify the procedures used by his Department to charter merchant ships for operational duties. [31766]
§ Mr. SoamesMy Department's operational movements staff provide a statement of requirement to the defence freight market representative on the Baltic exchange. From there the bid is disseminated to brokers both on and off the exchange. In parallel, the statement of requirement is passed to Crown agents contracted to MOD to provide ship suitability assessments. Once the offers have been received and assessed, my Department's movements staff select the most cost-effective and suitable vessel for the task. Ships' ownership, flag officers and crew are taken into consideration when sensitive equipments are to be carried.
§ Dr. ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what difficulties his Department has experienced in chartering merchant vessels to transport troops to Bosnia; [31774]
(2) how many merchant ships his Department has chartered to date to transport the additional British troops deployed to Bosnia; if he will list the name of each vessel together with the country of registration; and if he will make a statement; [31764]
831W(3) if his Department has chartered merchant ships to transport British forces to Bosnia through the Baltic exchange; [31765]
(4) what assessment he has made of the total number of merchant ships required to transport the additional British troops and equipment to Bosnia. [31769]
§ Mr. SoamesNo difficulties have been experienced in chartering merchant vessels to transport British equipment to Bosnia—no ships have been chartered solely to carry troops. The one vessel chartered, which was through the Baltic exchange, is the Danish roll-on roll-off Mercandian Senator registered in Copenhagen with Danish officers and crew. The number of ships required for the additional British troops and equipment for Bosnia depends upon the carrying capacity of the vessels offered.