To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 19 April (HL7565), whether, in the event of chartering suitable merchant ships from the commercial market, those ships would be manned by British merchant seamen as was the case in the Falklands conflict in 1982.

The requirement to charter 'shipping to be taken up from trade' can vary widely depending on the circumstances faced; it is therefore not possible to provide exact manning details until the specific requirements are known.