§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the size of the UK registered merchant fleet was in each of the last five years. [52906]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe size of the fleet in both numbers of ships and tonnage is given in the following table.
UK registered fleet (all vessels) UK registered fleet (trading vessels)1 As at 31 December Number of ships Gross tonnage (Thousand gt) Number of ships Gross tonnage (Thousand gt) 1996 1,506 4,437 381 3,291 1997 1,498 3,961 369 2,822 1998 1,498 4,389 378 3,081 1999 1,456 4,603 379 3,200 2000 1,518 5,971 417 4,579 2001 1,527 6,280 427 5,035 1 'Trading' vessels are those which carry cargo or passengers for commercial purposes. The remainder of the fleet consists of vessels which are deemed to be 'non-trading'. Examples of non-trading vessels are dredgers and trawlers, but vessels which were constructed for 'trading' purposes can also come into this category, if they have been converted to a non-trading use, e.g. storage or a floating restaurant.