Source · Select Committees · National Security Strategy (Joint Committee)
Recommendation 11
11
Not Addressed
The Government should acquire a genuinely sovereign cable repair ship by 2030.
Recommendation
The Government should acquire a genuinely sovereign cable repair ship by 2030. This could be leased to industry on favourable terms during peacetime and made available for Government use in a crisis. The Government should set out a timetable for this in response to this Report. (Recommendation, Paragraph 72)
Government Response Summary
The government's response discusses existing international cooperation on cable breaks and vessel behaviour but does not address the recommendation to acquire a sovereign cable repair ship by 2030 or set a timetable for it.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The Government frequently liaises with other countries on cable breaks, and particularly when the cause is not immediately clear. We apply all appropriate diplomatic levers to ensure the necessary investigations occur when deliberate sabotage activity is a possibility. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Sub-Committee on Implementation of IMO Instruments has already begun work on an overarching web service to improve data-sharing on vessels’ behaviour at sea. There are also already mechanisms to report on erratic behaviour of vessels on passage. There is a limit to the utility of port inspections, however, as such vessels generally do not stop in ports where they may face investigation.