Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the mandatory employment conditions excluding national minimum wage rates which apply to seafarers working on routes between maritime ports in the territorial waters of (a) the UK and (b) France.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Extensive details of mandatory employment conditions for seafarers are set out in international conventions including the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 and corresponding UK legislation.
In addition to improving working conditions through our Nine Point Plan for Seafarer Protections, the UK continues to play a leading role internationally in improving seafarer welfare.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates the Maritime and Coastguard Agency carried out port state control inspections of the (a) P&O Pioneer and (b) P&O Liberte ferries in Dover under the Merchant Shipping (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The P&O PIONEER was last inspected under the EU Directive, 2017/2110 on “A system of Inspections for the safe operations of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed craft in regular service” by the French on 17 November 2023 in the port of Calais. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) carried out general inspections on board on 2 and 9 June 2023 in the ports of Dunkerque and Dover respectively.
The P&O LIBERTE was last inspected under the EU Directive, 2017/2110 on “A system of Inspections for the safe operations of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed craft in regular service” by the French on 11 March 2024 in the port of Calais. The MCA carried out a port state control inspection on board on 7 March 2024 in the port of Dover.
The Merchant Shipping (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2023 do not apply to these vessels as they operate to an EU member state. As set out in Regulation 2(a), a regular service is defined as a service between a port in the United Kingdom and a port of a country other than an EU member state. The Merchant Shipping (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2023 apply to all ro-ro passenger ferries or high-speed passenger craft, which operate a regular service to or from a port in the United Kingdom either on an international voyage to a non-EU port or to another UK port in sea areas designated Class A in accordance with the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships on Domestic Voyages) Regulations 2000. Inspections of foreign flagged ro-ro passenger ferries or high-speed passenger craft on a regular service between the UK and a port in the European Union will be carried out under the Port State Control regime in accordance with Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Regulations 2011.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that crew employment conditions on the (a) P&O Pioneer and (b) P&O Liberte ferries are compliant with the (i) ILO Maritime Labour Convention and (ii) Seafarers’ Charter.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The P&O PIONEER and P&O LIBERTE operate between the ports of Dover and Calais. These ships are subject to inspections both under the EU Directive, 2017/2110 on “A system of Inspections for the safe operations of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed craft in regular service” and the Paris MoU port state control regime by the French and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
They are subject to two inspections under the EU directive and one port state control inspection every year. All of these inspections include verification of compliance with elements of the Maritime Labour Convention, for example: seafarer employment agreements; wages; accommodation; food and catering; leave; medical care; welfare; and health protection. Whenever surveyors from the MCA are on board these vessels, these items form part of their inspections.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received from DP World on maritime and ports policy since 17 March 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has received contact from DP World on the following maritime and port related issues:
From February 2023, DP World met Department officials on the progress of design and implementation of their Modal Shift incentivisation scheme at DP World’s Port of Southampton facility, which Rail officials acknowledged.
In November 2023, DP World wrote to seek an opportunity to discuss DP World’s continued investment in the UK, and reset the relationship with the Government after a period of non engagement with the Department following the P&O Ferries sackings.
More recently, last week the Department was notified of P&O Ferries’ intent to sign the Seafarers’ Charter.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Extra protections for seafarers as government introduces new maritime laws, published on 30 March 2022, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of those new laws on the crewing model operated in the short sea ferry sector by (a) P&O Ferries and (b) other operators.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 received Royal Assent in March 2023. The Act makes access to UK ports for services calling at a UK port at least 120 times a year conditional on payment of the equivalent of the UK National Minimum Wage.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Government response to the Fifth Report of the Transport Committee of Session 2022–23 on Maritime 2050: objectives, implementation and effects, published on 24 May 2023, what progress he has made on negotiations with the Spanish Government on practices concerning conditions for seafarers on board third country flagged ships operating regular shipping routes between ports in Spain and the UK.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 7 July 2023, the UK and Spain signed a Memorandum of Understanding on conditions for seafarers aboard third-country flagged vessels in which we agreed to examine how we could cooperate and consider the impact of existing and new measures.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made a recent estimate of the volume of food and grain being shipped out of Ukraine via the Black Sea.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Ukraine's military successes are generating positive economic outcomes in the Black Sea. In the face of Russian aggression, with our support and that of international partners, Ukraine established a maritime corridor to export goods via its Black Sea ports in September 2023.
Commercial confidence in the corridor has grown at such a pace that monthly exports of agricultural produce have now reached 4.6 million tonnes, the highest levels since the war began. If these levels are maintained, Ukraine is likely to export all its harvest this year.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, What recent assessment he has made of the financial impact of the introduction of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 1 January 2024 on operators of (a) cargo and (b) passenger ships over 5,000 gross tonnage on routes between UK ports and ports in (i) the Netherlands, (ii) Belgium, (iii) France, (iv) Spain, (v) Denmark, (vi) Germany and (vii) other EU member states.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to domestic maritime is currently planned from 2026. Officials across the UK ETS Authority have been regularly engaging across the maritime sector ahead of the next consultation on expansion of the UK ETS to domestic maritime. My officials met with industry bodies as recently as three weeks ago, and will continue to do so both ahead of, and following, the publication of the next consultation on the expansion of the UK ETS.
The EU ETS meanwhile will apply to all cargo and passenger vessels over 5000GT operating within the European Economic Area (EEA) and internationally to the EEA from 1 Jan 2024.
We have no plans to make a full assessment of this EU ETS scheme, it will impact all nations going to the EEA equally. The amount of in-scope emissions that allowances must be surrendered will increase from 40% in 2024, increasing to 70% in 2025, and 100% in 2026. The EU ETS will initially cover carbon dioxide emissions and be widened to include methane and nitrous oxide from 2026.
We will continue to monitor developments of international and regional carbon pricing instruments covering shipping schemes, including the EU ETS proposal, and consider how these might interact with our domestic policy in the future. This will be applied equally to all operators travelling internationally to the EEA. The EU ETS is not expected to have any organizational impact on the MCA.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme on the (a) recording and (b) pricing of emissions from (i) cargo and (ii) passenger ships working from UK ports and registered in (A) EU member and (B) non-EU states.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to domestic maritime is currently planned from 2026. Officials across the UK ETS Authority have been regularly engaging across the maritime sector ahead of the next consultation on expansion of the UK ETS to domestic maritime. My officials met with industry bodies as recently as three weeks ago, and will continue to do so both ahead of, and following, the publication of the next consultation on the expansion of the UK ETS.
The EU ETS meanwhile will apply to all cargo and passenger vessels over 5000GT operating within the European Economic Area (EEA) and internationally to the EEA from 1 Jan 2024.
We have no plans to make a full assessment of this EU ETS scheme, it will impact all nations going to the EEA equally. The amount of in-scope emissions that allowances must be surrendered will increase from 40% in 2024, increasing to 70% in 2025, and 100% in 2026. The EU ETS will initially cover carbon dioxide emissions and be widened to include methane and nitrous oxide from 2026.
We will continue to monitor developments of international and regional carbon pricing instruments covering shipping schemes, including the EU ETS proposal, and consider how these might interact with our domestic policy in the future. This will be applied equally to all operators travelling internationally to the EEA. The EU ETS is not expected to have any organizational impact on the MCA.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Table 1 of the Mode shift grants review call for evidence, published on 4 December 2023, if he will list the operators that received grants through the Mode shift revenue support scheme for intermodal freight transport (a) to and (b) from ports in 2022-23.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The following operators have received freight grants for flows to and from ports for 2022/23:
Freightliner
DB Cargo
GB Railfreight
PD Intermodal
Newell and Wright Transport
Maritime Transport