Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, under what circumstances the Government can take ships up from trade which are registered with flags of British Overseas Territories.

James Duddridge

Any vessel registered in the UK, an Overseas Territory or a Crown Dependency, is a ‘British ship’ and is entitled to fly the British Merchant Shipping flag (the ‘Red Ensign’). The UK remains the flag State for all ships flying the Red Ensign and is ultimately responsible under international law for these ships. The UK has general superintendence over the ship registers in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. This general superintendence derives from the UK’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea regarding ships flying its flag; these obligations have been implemented in domestic legislation.

Under prerogative powers all British flagged vessels (including those on UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependency registers) can be requisitioned where there is deemed to be a threat to the realm. Conscription of all British flagged vessels is done by Government Order. Such Order is enacted only during national crisis, such as war. The decision to use such Order is decided on a case by case basis by the Government of the day. For example, this Order was enacted during the Falklands War.