§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the hulls of Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels of the(a) Leaf, (b) Rover and (c) Wave classes are categorised as (i) single, (ii) single reinforced and (iii) double. [98717]
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many RFA Ships have a double hull. [99146]
§ Mr. IngramRoyal Fleet Auxiliary Leaf and Rover Class vessels are single hulled and are fully compliant with current regulations and hold valid IOPP (International Oil Pollution Prevention) certificates.
The Ministry of Defence's policy remains that, where practicable, we will comply with standards required by legislation. The implementation of a recent amendment to the regulations will, however, result in RFA tankers becoming non-compliant with MARPOL (the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 and the Protocol of 1978). A programme is in place to replace progressively the RFA single hulled tanker fleet which, subject to sufficient funding being identified, will result in MOD reaching compliance by 2010.
The WAVE Class has been built in accordance with current regulations for new tankers and are therefore double hulled.
None of the current RFA Fleet is double-hulled. However, the two new WAVE CLASS RFAs, that are undergoing trials before they enter service this spring, have been built with double-hulls.