COUMDENTAL
d.
monitoring the position and state of all the shipping it
measures to ensure the
controlled and taking all possible
greatest utility of that shipping.
13 The main Government users of shipping would be the Ministry of
Defence, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the
Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Energy, and the
Department of Transport. They would be the Departments principally
concerned in determining national priorities for the employment of
shipping.
14 The Ministry of Defence would be responsible for the control of
movement of merchant shipping in wartime - routes, convoys etc. It
would meet this responsibility through the UK Naval Control of
Shipping (NCS)
(NCS) organisation, which would direct and control the
movement of merchant ships to meet the requirements for their
employment provided by the NSA (UK). This organisation would form
part of the NATO NCS organisation, which would cover the whole NATO
area.
15
To a very considerable extent the extra work on merchant
shipping that the NSA would bring to the Department of Transport
would be carried out by people brought in from shipping and
shipping-related industry and commerce, and in preparing for the use
of merchant shipping there has been considerable collaboration with
and help from the shipping industry.
responsibilities for merchant
war would
The main operational
shipping in tension and
remain with the shipping industry, which would continue
and operate UK merchant shipping subject to direction
to manage
from the
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