Mr. Brian Higgisson:

To be fair, the level of awareness of the role of the authority in the past two years has increased significantly and, therefore, the owners and skippers of the vessels are quite open to the inspection process. What has been raised, which is alluded to in our presentation, is the issue of confusion as to the role of the MSO and the role of the authority. For the purposes of our inspections, we give a very clear indication as to what our role is and where it lies. It concerns safety, the need for a safety statement and the need for a risk assessment on a vessel. As the committee can see, the results, even though they are probably below the industrial average for safety statements in the country, are improving. The figure was below 40%. As the presentation indicates, the percentage has increased to the mid-50s. It has been as high as over 60%. As a result of our sample sizes being quite small - 50 vessels - the committee will appreciate that the figure will fluctuate. However, it has been increasing. Regarding a better awareness, there is an openness among the vast majority of skippers to engage with us during the inspection process and to do what is required.