Mv Derbyshire Enquiry

EDM number 132 in 1998-99, proposed by Frank Cook on 15/12/1998.

That this House notes that the MV 'Derbyshire' an oil-bulk-ore carrier (OBO vessel) sank suddenly, dramatically and mysteriously in the South China Sea on the night of 9th September 1980 with the loss of 42 crew and two wives, since when a further 350 boats of almost identical design and construction have disappeared in similar circumstances, most of them quite inexplicably, causing deaths totalling 1634; and now that the sunken wreck of the MV 'Derbyshire' has been located with the help of the international maritime unions and visited twice by international inspection teams urges Her Majesty's Government to respond positively to the long-standing distress of the Derbyshire Families Association by ensuring the most rigorous and comprehensive scrutiny of all the evidence now available and the most careful consideration of the concerns of every single interested party with a view to establishing at an early date a much more dependable and lasting set of standards and specifications for this type of vessel to halt this distressing catalogue of tragedies and render less likely any prospect of further additions to this sad list.

This motion has been signed by a total of 50 MPs.