Merchant Shipping (Pollution) Bill [Lords]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that, and he is right to be concerned. I mean no reflection on that particular ship, but some of the most unseaworthy vessels on the high seas belong to the fleets that I mentioned. For instance, the Prestige, which sank in 2002 and caused a great deal of chaos, was registered in Cyprus’ large offshore register. At least Cyprus is applying for EU membership, which means that there will be more scope to deal with the problem that its register poses.