asked the Secretary of State for Trade what is his estimate of the current nominal value of the cargoes carried by coastal shipping in British waters ; and what percentage is represented by the amount of oil and related petroleum products.

Information on the value of cargoes carried by coastal shipping in British waters is not available, and to ascertain whether reliable estimates could be made would involve disproportionate cost. Information on the tonnage of these cargoes is available from National Ports Council statistics. For 1978, the latest year for which complete figures are available, the tonnage of coastwise cargoes was 62 million tonnes, of which about four-fifths was crude petroleum and petroleum products.