Draft Merchant Shipping (Fire Protection) Regulations 2023

Richard Holden Excerpts

Monday 27th March 2023 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Richard Holden)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Merchant Shipping (Fire Protection) Regulations 2023.

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Harris. The draft statutory instrument relates to the fire safety of all passenger ships on international voyages, a limited class of passenger ships on non-international voyages and all cargo ships of 500 gross tons or over. It makes provision for different generations of ship, with the fire protection requirements differing slightly between the generations.

The draft instrument will be made under safety powers conferred by the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. It is subject to the enhanced scrutiny procedures under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, because it revokes an instrument that was amended by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. However, the draft instrument does not implement any EU obligations.

The draft regulations implement the most up-to-date requirements of chapter II-2 of the international convention for the safety of life at sea 1974, known as SOLAS. They bring UK domestic law up to date and in line with internationally agreed requirements. They contain direct references to the vast majority of the SOLAS requirements. Those references are ambulatory, so future updates to the provisions will be given direct effect in UK law when they enter into force internationally. That assists us in keeping the UK up to date with our international requirements.

The draft regulations will revoke and replace the Merchant Shipping (Fire Protection) Regulations 2003 and the Merchant Shipping (Fire Protection: Large Ships) Regulations 1998. The 1998 regulations were amended through section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. The draft regulations will further improve fire safety standards for ships. They will enable the UK to enforce the requirements against UK ships wherever they may be in the world, and against non-UK ships when they are in UK waters.

SOLAS chapter II-2 contains provision for structural fire protection, fire detection and fire extinction on ships. That includes, for example, prevention of fires and explosions, suppression of fire, escape from fire, operational requirements, alternative design and arrangements, and other requirements that are specific to particular situations. SOLAS is supplemented by the fire safety systems code and the fire test procedures code. All are amended from time to time at the International Maritime Organisation. A number of amendments have been agreed at the IMO and have come into force internationally.

[Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)]

The Minister is making an interesting speech. I am looking at regulation 5(2)(d), which refers to fishing vessels. Does that include every size of fishing vessel? Obviously, the other regulations refer to ships. Does that include small fishing vessels as well as the larger ones?

[Mr Holden]

My understanding is that the regulations are for all cargo ships, but I will write to the right hon. Lady on the specifics if that is not the case for all fishing vessels.

Amendments in 20 resolutions have been agreed at the IMO since 2003 to further improve the safety standards of fire protection, but they have not yet been implemented into UK law. The UK supported those amendments during the IMO discussions, and as a party to SOLAS, the UK now has an obligation to implement those further updates.

The Department held an eight-week public consultation on the draft regulations. None of the five responses received were contentious, and no changes to the regulations were made as a result. Responses were issued, as well as a post-consultation report, which was published on gov.uk. We have 440 ships on the UK flag, 324 of which are partially owned in the UK. They are expected to be already compliant with the requirements of the draft regulations. Making the regulations will enable the UK to enforce the same fire protection requirements as other states.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Further to the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall South, there is reference in the draft regulations to smaller ships, which make up about 3% of the fleet and have fewer than 50 people employed on them. How does that relate to what my right hon. Friend was asking about small fishing vessels and whether the regulations apply to them?

[Mr Holden]

My understanding is that some fishing vessels over 500 gross tons, especially those with mixed functions on board—for example, canning at sea—are treated like cargo ships. Other smaller vessels are in different categories, but the measures apply to those larger vessels.

Making the regulations will enable the UK to enforce the same requirements as other states—requirements to which UK ships are currently subject when entering foreign ports. That will provide greater equality between UK shipping companies and foreign operators. Members have highlighted the importance of the regulations: they improve safety standards, meet the UK’s international obligations and ensure a level playing field for UK shipping companies. I trust that we have cross-party support for this statutory instrument, which implements important updates to SOLAS regarding fire safety in UK domestic legislation. I therefore commend the instrument to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Holden]

I thank the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East for his comments. The statutory instrument looks to implement fire safety requirements into UK domestic law, bringing our domestic law in line with international requirements and fulfilling our international obligations, and I will refer to a couple of the specific points raised.

On fishing vessels, only those over 500 gross tons that have an extra manufacturing facility on board, such as canning, are covered by this instrument. Fishing vessels themselves are covered by other regulations in this area, so I hope the right hon. Member for Walsall South will rest assured that that matter has been cleared up.

Regarding the broader issues around the maritime backlog, I am happy to write to the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East to let him know where we are on that matter. One of my predecessors, my hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Robert Courts), made a commitment to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in October 2021 about clearing the backlog, and I will happily write to the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East with an update.

I hope that I have answered the questions raised today, as well as giving that extra commitment to the hon. Gentleman, and that the Committee will agree that this SI, which will improve fire safety requirements, is necessary. Given the safety requirements of the instrument, it is right that it is brought into law as soon as is practicable.

Question put and agreed to.