Shipping: Passenger Safety

Lord Swinfen Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Swinfen (Con)]

My Lords, what would be the comparative rates of survival for the two methods, life rafts and life rings, in cold winter water around our northern coasts?

[Baroness Kramer]

I assure your Lordships that this standard could not apply in winter weather; it is for summer only. It is for boats that are very close to the coast and for small excursion vessels. It is part of an appropriate safety regime to look at how the vessels are being used and to make sure that safety is appropriate to that rather than circumstances in which they cannot be used.