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Written question asked by Lord Patten (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 July 2020, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 4 August 2020. It was answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Conservative) on Friday, 31 July 2020 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Shipping: Coronavirus

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 20 July (HL6506), what is the median length of time that foreign national crew have spent stranded in UK ports; what is the cost of the repatriation programme; and whether they claim back the costs of repatriation from ship owners.

Answer

We do not have median figures. The Department began work on facilitating repatriation 90 days ago (as at 29 July). At that time there were 11,374 crew in the UK. To date we have facilitated the repatriation of over 13,000 seafarers and there are currently 4,258 awaiting repatriation.

Many vessels arriving in the UK are able to repatriate large numbers of seafarers over the 2-3 days after arrival. However, for seafarers from certain countries the length of time in the UK will be longer due to restrictions in their own state.

It should also be noted that seafarers arriving in the UK may still be under their original contract and, outside the pandemic conditions, would not be due to be repatriated. The cost of repatriation is met by the shipping company and not by the Government.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL7099
Session
2019-21
Related items
Shipping: Coronavirus
Monday, 20 July 2020
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects
Crew Disease control Shipping Repatriation Coronavirus
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk