§ Mr. ProsserTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on recent developments in the safety of roll-on roll-off passenger ferries. [43438]
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§ Ms Glenda JacksonI am pleased to announce the publication of an updated list of ferries operating to and from UK ports detailing the dates by which they must comply with the higher survivability standard specified in the Stockholm Agreement. We believe that it is important to continue to provide public information on ferry safety and will publish further lists when there are significant changes.
Officials from my Department recently attended a conference hosted by the Swedish Government in Stockholm to consider the Report of the Joint Accident Investigation Commission of Estonia, Finland and Sweden into the loss of the ESTONIA in September 1994. The conference was a welcome initiative from the Swedish Government and I thank them for it. It considered whether or not international action since the ESTONIA tragedy had sufficiently addressed the Report's recommendations. It was agreed that most issues, particularly the potential problem of capsize due to water entering the car deck, had been satisfactorily addressed, confirming the significant progress which has been made in recent years. The conference also agreed that there were areas where research might identify further potential safety enhancements. We will look closely at these to establish whether there are any further measures we can take to enhance the already very high safety standard of ferries operating to and from UK ports.