SAFE FREEBOARD OF OLDER LARGE BULK CARRIERS

Early day motion 1686, tabled 22 July 2002 by Edward O'Hara (Labour). Signed by 22 members.

That this House is aware that the distinction for permissible freeboard purposes of bulk carrying ships into Type A, tankers with small and strongly secured hatches, and Type B, dry cargo carriers with larger and less strongly secured hatches, has been overtaken by developments in the size and design of such carriers; notes that the International Association of Classification Societies in 1966 adopted the International Load Line Convention ILLC 66 whereby large bulk carriers with large deck openings strongly secured with steel hatch covers could be loaded down to B-60, that is 60 per cent, of the difference between the permissible freeboards of Type A and Type B carriers subject to stipulated standards of hatch strength; further notes that this was the standard applied to MV Derbyshire and many other large bulk carriers which have sunk since 1966; welcomes the decision of the IACS to adopt UR S21 as a minimum standard for required hatch strength of all bulk carriers built since 1998; is concerned, however, that the new standard does not apply to ships built before that date which continue to sink at the alarming rate of one a month with appalling loss of life; and urges Her Majesty's Government to press for the IACS, which collectively classifies 96 per cent. of world shipping, to scrap B-60 and to introduce a new and safer standard of permissible freeboard, perhaps B + 60, for all large bulk carriers built before 1998.

Signatures by party: Labour 19, Conservative 1, Labour/Co-operative 1, Liberal Democrat 1.