Source · Select Committees · National Security Strategy (Joint Committee)
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted in Part
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Business and Trade should apply...
Recommendation
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Business and Trade should apply diplomatic and economic pressure to press for adequate investigations from flag states and states where vessels suspected of cable damage enter port. The Government should also work with partners, particularly the International Maritime Organization, to make greater use of port state controls as a deterrent—for example by expanding mechanisms to share data on vessels’ behaviour at sea and ensuring these are then thoroughly integrated into port inspections. (Recommendation, Paragraph 123) 65 Military and monitoring responses
Government Response Summary
The government states it frequently uses diplomatic levers to ensure investigations into cable breaks. It notes existing IMO work on data sharing and mechanisms for reporting vessel behaviour, but states there is a limit to the utility of port inspections as suspicious vessels often avoid such ports.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
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.