Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will amend legislation on minimum safe manning levels on merchant ships to require the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to consult maritime trade unions when a shipowner applies for a change to a vessel's safe manning certificate.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
There are no plans to amend legislation on minimum safe manning levels on merchant ships to require the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to consult maritime trade unions when a shipowner applies for a change to a vessel’s safe manning document.
However, under the current regulations MSN 1868 Section 6 ‘Consultation and Schedule’ requires owners to:
‘…. consult with the Master, seafarers, seafarers’ representatives (where applicable) and the MCA on their proposed manning levels and draw up a schedule [of manning] accordingly…. If agreement cannot be reached ….the MCA will consider the views put forward and if necessary require the schedule to be revised. Where disagreement occurs it may be necessary to arrange a practical demonstration of the crew’s ability to carry out the essential tasks in the context of the principles of safe manning.’
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is taking to ensure that members of the Red Ensign Group comply with the safe manning levels recommended by that agency.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) carry out a maximum four year cycle of audits of the Overseas Territory (OT)/Crown Dependency (CD) Administrations, the scope of which is covered in the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the UK Government and the individual Government of the OTs and CDs for the operation of their British shipping register. The MOU contains an obligation to ensure that all vessels registered, that are subject to safe manning criteria, are properly crewed and certificated to International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) standards.
The MCA surveyors also carry out targeted inspections of Red Ensign Group (REG) ships visiting UK ports under the Merchant Shipping Act. If examples of a failure to comply are identified, the MCA has at its disposal the same control measures as for Port State Control, i.e. detention, prohibition notices, improvement notices and defect rectification. Findings of these inspections are fed back to the MCA to follow-up with the relevant REG administration.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what arrangements are in place for determining safe manning levels on UK merchant ships for each (a) classification of ship, (b) trade route and (c) type of cargo.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
There are no prescriptive regulations requiring certain numbers of crew for ship types, trade routes or types of cargo. The arrangements we have in place are explained in full in Merchant Shipping Notice (MSN) 1868.
Vessels of more than 500 GT are required to hold a Safe Manning Document.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many maritime (a) surveyors and (b) inspectors have (i) left and (ii) joined the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The number of Marine Surveyors that have left and joined the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each of the last 10 years is shown below:
Financial Year | Leavers | Starters |
2005-2006 | 9 | 6 |
2006-2007 | 10 | 4 |
2007-2008 | 11 | 8 |
2008-2009 | 7 | 11 |
2009-2010 | 12 | 11 |
2010-2011 | 8 | 6 |
2011-2012 | 14 | 3 |
2012-2013 | 8 | 6 |
2013-2014 | 11 | 4 |
2014-2015 | 11 | 7 |
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the vacancy rate was for maritime (a) surveyors and (b) inspectors in the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in (i) the most recent period for which figures are available and (ii) each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has not historically recorded vacancy rates for specific professions within the Agency.
The current vacancy rate for Marine Surveyors is 15.0%
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Maritime and Coastguard Agency paid to classification societies in each of the last 10 years; and for what categories of work these payments were made in each of those years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has not made any payments to any classification societies in any of the last 10 years.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's ship (a) survey and (b) inspection work was completed by classification societies in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Inspection work is not performed by classification societies.
The information about the proportion of survey work performed by classification societies is not recorded.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's (MCA) targets were for ship (a) survey and (b) inspection work in each of the last 10 years; and what the MCA's performance was against each such target in each of those years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) targets for ship survey and inspection work for the last 10 years, and its performance against these targets is shown below:
Port State Control (PSC) Inspections | ||
Year | Target | Performance |
2005 | 1614 | 1768 |
2006 | 1630 | 1661 |
2007 | 1626 | 1639 |
In 2008 the measure changed to inspecting at least 25% of foreign ships visiting the UK | ||
2008 | 25% | Achieved – (1660) |
2009 | 25% | Achieved – (1684) |
2010 | 25% | Achieved – (1666) |
2011 | 25% | Achieved – (1459) |
2012 | 25% | Achieved – (1452) |
In 2013 the measure changed to a fair shared commitment that is set by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) | ||
2013 | 1535 | Met – (1384) |
2014 | 1177 | Met – (1279) |
EMSA does not recognise Gibraltar as a separate flag-State, so taking Gibraltar’s performance into account the UK has met its PSC target for the past 10 years.There are no published targets for UK vessel inspections or survey and certification work that is performed annually by MCA surveyors. However, the two tables below show the number of survey and inspections that have been completed in the last 10 years.
Survey & Certification | |
Year | Total |
2005 | 4028 |
2006 | 3968 |
2007 | 3900 |
2008 | 3869 |
2009 | 3664 |
2010 | 3747 |
2011 | 4165 |
2012 | 3817 |
2013 | 3633 |
2014 | 3426 |
UK Vessel Inspections | |
Year | Total |
2005 | 5352 |
2006 | 4818 |
2007 | 5350 |
2008 | 4485 |
2009 | 5941 |
2010 | 4500 |
2011 | 4315 |
2012 | 3879 |
2013 | 3730 |
2014 | 3446 |
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the role of his Department was in the design of the new employment contract for maritime surveyors and inspectors employed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; and what impact assessment his Department has made of the provision to end the contractual commitment to provide out of hours contact.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) designed and negotiated new terms and conditions of employment for all DfT staff, including those for Marine Surveyors. An offer was presented to the Trade Unions and they balloted their members and accepted the offer.
The provision of out of hours working was and remains on a voluntary and non-contractual basis. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) Survey and Inspection Transformation Programme will review the terms and conditions for Marine Surveyors and will consider the appropriateness of the current employment contract arrangements.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new employment contract for maritime surveyors employed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA); what consultancy fees were paid by the MCA in drawing up that contract; what consultation was undertaken with MCA staff on that contract; and when that contract will come into effect.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) Survey and Inspection Transformation Programme will review the terms and conditions for Marine Surveyors and will consider the appropriateness of the current employment contract arrangements.
The MCA did not pay any consultancy fees in drawing up these contracts. As the contract applies to all Department for Transport (DfT) staff, both DfT and the MCA consulted the Trade Unions on the new contract. The Unions balloted their members and accepted the contract. This became effective from August 2012.