Written question asked by Gwyn Prosser (Labour) on Friday, 31 January 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 7 February 2003. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Friday, 7 February 2003 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the names and flag states of the merchant ships chartered in support of the current military deployment in the Mediterranean and Gulf regions. - Includes numbers and states and fact that am withholding the information on names of the merchant vessels involved, under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access.

Answer: Mr. Prosser: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the names and flag states of the merchant ships chartered in support of the current military deployment in the Mediterranean and Gulf regions. [95672] Mr. Ingram: Some 53 vessels have now been chartered for use in the Mediterranean/Gulf regions. The numbers and flag states are as follows: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number United Kingdom 8 Isle of Man 1 The Netherlands 3 Bermuda 2 Panama 1 Greece 1 Sweden 2 Spain 3 Malta 8 Egypt 1 St. Vincent 4 Liberia 1 Cayman I 2 Bahamas 3 Turkey 3 Italy 2 Cyprus 1 Denmark 1 Marshall I 2 Canada 1 Antigua 3 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. I am withholding the information requested on the names of the merchant vessels involved, under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, due to the overriding need to maintain force protection.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 95672; 399 c464W;399 c462W
Session: 2002-03
Subjects: Armed conflict Deployment Iraq Merchant shipping Shipping Iraq conflict
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk