asked Her Majesty's Government:

Under what circumstances a stricken vessel in French or Irish waters would be directed into a United Kingdom port; and [HL3449]

Under what circumstances a stricken vessel in United Kingdom waters would be directed to a French or an Irish port. [HL3450]

When a ship is in need of assistance and there is the potential that a deterioration in its condition could result in pollution affecting the seas and coasts of two neighbouring states, then it is good practice for the authorities of both states to co-operate with one another in addressing the situation. The formal basis for this in respect of the UK and France is the Anglo-French Joint Maritime Contingency Plan (Mancheplan). In addition the UK, France and Ireland are contracting parties to the Bonn agreement. This agreement provides bilateral and multilateral co-operation with regards to pollution at sea.

In practice, the Secretary of State's representative for maritime salvage and intervention and the equivalent official or authority in the neighbouring state would work together to assess the condition of the ship and identify the most suitable place of refuge in the specific circumstances. In so doing, they would take account of all relevant factors, including the weather, the location of the ship, the type of threat posed by the ship and its cargo, the distance to potential places of refuge and factors specific to those potential places of refuge (such as available depth of water, alignment to the prevailing wind, proximity to populated areas). The choice of the most suitable place of refuge would be taken on these objective grounds, irrespective of which of the neighbouring countries in which the place of refuge was located.