Further Decline in ‘Militarily Useful’ British Vessels as Numbers Drop to 475 in 2024.
The number of ‘militarily useful’ British-registered vessels has continued to decline, falling from 495 in 2023 to 475 by the end of 2024, continuing a long-term trend of decreasing maritime resources available for national defence.
The latest data, released as part of the UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2024 report, confirms a reduction of 20 vessels over the past year. The decrease was largely driven by a decline in product and chemical tankers, while updated data collection methods allowed for the inclusion of Roll-on Roll-off passenger vessels in 2023, which had been previously unavailable.
The decline follows a broader trend observed in recent years. In 2009, there were 841 British-registered vessels deemed useful for military requisition. By 2023, that number had dropped to 495, representing a 41.14% reduction. The latest figures show a further 4% decline over the past year.
Militarily useful vessels are defined as merchant ships, including tankers, dry cargo vessels, and passenger ships, that could be requisitioned to support UK military operations if required.
The continued decrease in available ships raises questions about the UK’s ability to sustain maritime logistics in times of crisis, particularly in a scenario where civilian shipping assets would be needed to support military operations.
I don’t have any figures, but I would guess that worldwide the number of merchant ships is increasing, so I suspect there are reasons why companies are choosing to register their ships elsewhere?
It looks like some of the most popular countries to register ships are small commonwealth countries. Perhaps some sort of quid-pro-quo agreement could be reached in order to access these vessels in extreme circumstances.
They are flags of convenience – ie. very few regulations. The US operate a system whereby ships using their ports need to be US owned, registered and they have stringent regulations. We could start moving towards that sort of arrangement.
Wouldn’t even need to be new regulation. Just make it clear that ships visiting the UK that are not registered here are liable to extensive and prolonged inspections to ensure they’re up to standard. Ship owners would soon get the message that it’s cheaper to register here.
Worldwide number of ships is, if anything, reducing as ships get larger.
I assume there are still British owned vessels they are simply not British registered. These vessels are almost certainly insured by LLoyds. The solution seems simple. The Government set up a company which builds, registers & leases (at excellent but profitable prices) ships of all type and sizes. The Government could borrow the startup costs from the Bank of England. It would create an industry although it would need to be very modern to compete against virtual slave labour in some countries.
The problem would be the pressure to build the ships in the UK and recreate BSB Ltd…..
So all the bulk shipping moves to Holland – how does that help?
USA is a specific case of ‘they are big enough to get away with it’
Not necessarily. Europe will be laser focused on issues related to defence & ukraine and will also be looking at their shipping. Flags of convenience is a boil which needs to be lanced. I am sure the EU could be open to the idea of making all their shipping better regulated and owned in Europe. A reciprocal deal with the UK should be possible. The EU market is probably larger than the US market however I’m sure the Amercians might be up for a deal.
Europe laser focussed? Never in a million years.
Would be interesting to compare the numbers against other similar sized countries such as Frace, Italy or Spain. As I read somewhere that even though our merchant fleet has definitely shrunk over the years it is still one of the biggest outside the US, China and all the flag of convenience countries.
Tremble afore ye mighty Liberian navy
lol
Yes it’s every first world nation..other than the US which has legislation to counter flags of convenience ( aka it’s against the law) or china where every Chinese ship is flagged Chinese because it’s actually owned by the CCP even if it’s legally owned by a Chinese company.
All def secs in the last 25 years have presided over this shameful decline. Same with the RAF. The list of cuts, cuts and more cuts without immediate replacements has been ruinous.
Did you read the article? It’s nothing to do with defence cuts.
This has nothing to do with defence spending and everything to do with flags of convenience.
The global trend has been to hide the real owners of ships behind a series of front companies in a variety of countries. That way, if it sinks or causes damage, it is hard to sue the real owner. This needs to be clamped down on, by the G7.
The other point is that in 2022, many countries ordered new LNG carriers to ensure cheap energy. Britain did not. Hence high energy costs here.
Other countries had to order new LNG carriers because they were no-longer buying piped Russian gas.
We never bought Russian gas and had been importing LNG from the Middle East for many years. Hence no need to order new carriers.
High energy costs here are due to ALL energy being costed based on natural gas because it was stupidly assumed gas would always be the cheapest method of generation. An assumption that is definitely no-longer true.
Well it would be if we had a steady stream of UK owned LNG carriers bringing gas to the UK. Foreign owned LNG carriers can suddenly switch to going to who will pay the most, leaving the UK high & dry.
We have a steady stream of LNG carriers under long-term contract to bring it to the UK. Despite the suddenly increase in demand from Europe for LNG we’ve not had any ‘switch’.
Given things have stabilised compared to the immediate aftermath of sanctions, it’s even more unlikely now.
“Stuft” is fun. Try a North Sea ferry in mid Atlantic….
Two ships I worked on went down to the Falklands in 1982, the Canberra and the Europic. I know which one I would have preferred to be on had l gone to. Instead while foreign flag ships were being chartered by the UK government for non war zone service the product carrier I was on, the Texaco Rotterdam was on the market and ended up in Scaramanga after being sold. We did get to see the Canberra sail from Southampton though.
How many have British crews, most have under paid crews from Pakistan
Decline since Spithead naval review
FFS did you not read the article?
Another headline “further decline in politically useful politicians”…….😜
In the end the only way to manage this is to force legislation around the flag of convenience nations..simply put the major nations need to get together and enforce some form of control and remove the flags of convenience from the board. “Flags of Convenience (FOCs) are a legal aberration and a stain on the shipping industry. They provide shipowners with the means of avoiding effective control by the countries of ownership, mostly from the global north, and the enforcement of strict rules and regulations that protect seafarers. They have become a powerful vehicle for social dumping by allowing shipowners… Read more »
It’s just a matter of flags or numbers. Shipping has changed out of all recognition since the 1970’s. Container ships aren’t suitable for much other than carrying containers.
A good read that illustrates this is Merchant Ships at War: The Falklands Experience.
The variety of vessel described in the book simply aren’t available to us now.
As an ex merchant seaman (Master Mariner) and having served on STUFT ships during the Falklands war, one issue not mentioned in the article is about crews.
If available ships did become available, who will man them. I can’t see 3rd world crews fighting for the UK.
Britains Merchant Navy is destroyed
Totally agree. Was going to make that point until I read your post. It’s rather the elephant in the room.
I joined the Merchant Navy in 1977, 38 years later retired from the sea 2015.
Successive governments watch as foreign flash dominate offshore support via supply boats.
Taxing seafarers and their employers same as Joe who works locally.
I have a simple solution, shops that trade around the UK coast must be 100% British crewed.
Stop companies like P&O ferries (owned in Dubai) sacking their credit and replaced with below minimum wage?.
Get rid of short terminism and have Norwegian rule and US “Bob Jone” act.
STUFT vessels came in very useful in the Falklands conflict. The loss of the Atlantic Conveyer was very sad.
Interesting comments by all but there are obvious reasons why the number of vessels available to the MOD has decreased. The main reason is as always cost. UK crews are expensive as profit margins across all sectors is tight. Shipowners will always look to cut costs which means employing crews from Eastern Europe, Far East, India etc. What doesn’t help is the lack of Government support towards a UK the maritime employer. As a result there are very few British merchant shipping companies left in business. This couple with ack of youngsters wishing a maritime career and ship running costs… Read more »