Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current level of compliance is with the Merchant Shipping (Emergency Equipment Lockers for Ro/Ro Passenger Ships) Regulations 1988 amongst ship owners operating licensed passenger ferry services from UK ports; what the penalties are for non-compliance; and if he will publish a list of all instances of non-compliance with these regulations recorded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency since 1988.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) does not record the information in the format requested.

The MCA does record non-compliance, or deficiencies, of items for which there are specific codes, for example emergency lighting. The Emergency Equipment Lockers do not have a specific code, and items similar to those kept in the Emergency Equipment Locker may be located in other parts of the ship. These may need to be recorded as non-compliant although, the records do not indicate whether such deficiencies relate to equipment in one of the Emergency Equipment Lockers or elsewhere in the ship.

The penalties for non-compliance are ‘ the owner and master of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine or both.’ Level 5 is currently set at £5,000.