Vol. 418 No. 4
14 Mr. G. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Marine if he will outline the progress, if any, which has been made regarding the investigations into the recent incident concerning the mv Havelet; if he will hold a public inquiry into the matter; if he has contacted passengers who were on board; when he expects the report to be published and made public; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
39 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for the Marine when it is expected that the investigations into the incident involving the Brittany Ferries vessel the mv Havelet will be completed; and if he will make the findings public.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 39 together. A statutory inquiry under the Merchant Shipping Acts is being carried out into this incident by a marine surveyor of my Department. In addition, I asked the French authorities to carry out a port state control inspection of the vessel on its arrival in Roscoff on the day after the incident. The French authorities carried out their inspection and reported to me that some minor deficiencies were discovered. These were not sufficiently serious to warrant detention. Therefore, the vessel was allowed to proceed from Roscoff to Plymouth. Also the Bahamian authorities — the flag state for the vessel — were notified by me of the incident. That administration are conducting their own investigation in full co-operation with my Department. My own Department's inquiry involves interviewing of crew members and passengers. Newspaper advertisements have been placed inviting passengers who were on the vessel and those with specific knowledge of the incident to make submissions to my Department within one month. When these submissions have been received and assessed the marine accident investigation report will be made to me. I would expect to receive the report in about two months time.
When I have completed the examination of the report I will take whatever action I think is necessary based on the findings. Preliminary advice suggests that this incident is not one in which it would be appropriate to hold a full public inquiry. Fortunately, there was no loss of life and no serious injury has been reported to me as a result of the incident. I would envisage the release of a report, following a thorough statutory investigation by a technical expert from my Department who will have heard all witnesses, as being the most appropriate approach in this instance.
As I recently announced to the House, I have decided that from November, 1991 a report of investigations into marine accidents will be released and made available to the public. This new policy will, therefore, apply to the incident to which the Deputy refers. I have taken the decision to publish a report in future in the interests of maritime safety and in order to allay public concern about such accidents.
Let me first compliment the Minister on his very comprehensive reply to a question causing much concern at present. May I ask the Minister a further question: would he agree that, in certain instances, the lashings on the ship in question to chain down trucks were deemed to be faulty? Will the Minister say whether that will be taken into consideration in the full investigation to be carried out? Furthermore, if a public inquiry is deemed to be necessary will the Minister say whether he will facilitate those people who have called for such a public inquiry?
I thank the Deputy for his kind remarks. Certainly the question of the lashings is one that is being included in the relevant investigation. I can assure the House that, in this case, the investigation will be very thorough and adequate.
