§ Mr. DixonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will place in the Library copies of the terms of reference given to the admiralty salvage office of the Ministry of Defence in respect of its forthcoming investigation on site into the loss of the MV Derbyshire, together with the names of the independent technical assessors already appointed, stating which of the latter will be present on site; [37148]
(2) pursuant to the oral statement by the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Norris) of 3 July, Official Report, columns 900–04, if he will list (a) the names of the bodies, persons, or organisations which will be on site for the projected investigation into the wreck of the MV Derbyshire, together with the details of those to whom they are responsible and their sources of finance and (b) the names of the bodies or organisations which have expressed a wish to send or nominate observers to be present on site during those investigations; and what are his reasons for treating the presence of any person representing a body named in (b) as prejudicial to the objectivity of the investigation, or the credibility of conclusions drawn by bodies concerned with that investigation. [37163]
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§ Mr. Norris[holding answer 12 July 1996]: The terms of reference given to the officers of the admiralty salvage office appointed as project managers for the return expedition are as follows:
to be responsible to this Department and the European Commission, taking account of advice from the technical assessors, Professor Douglas Faulkner and Robin Williams, and of the European Commission's assessor, Remo Torchio, for the co-ordination and operational management of the project, which we envisage will include:
- drafting the specification for the expedition;
- inviting and evaluating the bids received from contractors, and recommending who should carry out the work;
- any post-tender negotiations with the successful bidder;
- placing the contract;
- management and control of the contract on-site"
Those on board the survey vessel carrying out phase 1 are expected to include: Dr. Remo Torchio, European Commission technical assessor; Professor Douglas Faulkner and Robin Williams, UK technical assessors; David Keogh and James Ward, Ministry of Defence, salvage officers and project managers; and the staff of Oceaneering Technologies, the contractors.
The UK assessors are paid for by my Department and Dr. Torchio by the European Commission. My Department and the European Commission are sharing the other costs of the project.
No specific request to have representatives on board has been made by an interested party, other than the Derbyshire Families Association. However, solicitors representing British Shipbuilders have said that, if the DFA were represented, they would also wish to be.
It is essential that the results of the evidence gathered is, impartial, objective and thorough. To have any party represented could lead to challenges that the return was partial, lacked objectivity and was undertaken with a specific purpose in mind. To have all interested parties represented would be impractical.