Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (Hansard, 13 December 1999)

§ Mr. Prosser
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will carry out a full investigation of the operation of the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Dover, having particular regard to the adequacy of(a) physical and (b) human resources at the time of maximum communications traffic in the operation of the Channel Navigation Information Service. [101823]

§ Mr. Hill
There is no perceived basis for an investigation into the physical or human resources at the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Dover in the operation of the Channel Navigation Information Service.
The physical and human resources required to execute the tasks of the Centre are adequate for its primary role of search and rescue and the Channel Navigation Information Service roles.
At times of maximum communications traffic, exceptionally, ships may experience a wait of no more than ten minutes. This has no effect on the safe navigation of vessels within the Dover Strait.

§ Mr. Prosser
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what additional resources are to be made available at the66W Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Dover, following the suspension of the Channel Navigation Information Service, on 24 August; [101825]
(2) what assessment he has made of the dangers to shipping as a consequence of suspension of the Channel Navigation Information Service at the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Dover. [101824]

§ Mr. Hill
The Channel Navigation Information Service at the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Dover has not been suspended. Therefore, there have been no dangers caused to shipping as a consequence.
The responsibility for the safe navigation of vessels passing through or across the Dover Strait remains with the Masters of those vessels. The recently introduced mandatory reporting requirements for vessels of 300 gross tons or more is a means of assisting French and British coastguards in identifying vessels should they fail to comply with international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, specifically Rule 10 which covers the use of Traffic Separation Schemes.
The very brief, rare and temporary suspension of the mandatory reporting, not the Channel Navigation Information Service, following the serious collision between the Norwegian Dream and Ever Decent on 24 August 1999 did not endanger shipping within the Straits of Dover.