Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the 2010 Manila amendments to the Seafarer, Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Convention, if he will take steps to ensure that employers in the UK shipping industry meet the cost to merchant seafarers of renewing the basic qualifications to work at sea every five years mandated by those amendments.

Shipping is a global industry and introducing mandatory requirements for employers to cover these costs could be detrimental to employment opportunities for UK seafarers.