Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will set out the statutory limits on seafarers’ hours of work and rest when employed on Workboats over 200 gross tonnage in UK territorial waters.

The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Hours of Work) Regulations 2018 apply to all sea-going commercially operated vessels, including workboats over 200 gross tonnage operating in UK territorial waters. These set the minimum hours of rest as

(a) 10 hours in any 24-hour period; and

(b) 77 hours in any 7-day period.

The 10 hours of rest in (a) may be divided into no more than two periods, one of which is to be at least six hours in length.