Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Home Office, Border Force and any person acting under their authority has the power to require, request and advise search and rescue vessels, including RNLI lifeboats, to deactivate and suspend Automatic Identification System transmissions.

Responsibility for the coordination and tasking of search and rescue operations within the UK Search and Rescue Region rests with HM Coastguard, an agency of the Department for Transport. The Home Office does not comment on operational tactics, capabilities or procedures relating to maritime operations. You may therefore wish to direct questions concerning the operation of search and rescue vessels to the Secretary of State for Transport.

AIS transmission is not mandatory for all vessels, however where it is used the ultimate authority and absolute discretion to deactivate AIS rests solely with the ship's Master. While nation states can issue official advisories or requests suggesting that vessels turn off AIS in specific high-risk zones, the Master retains professional judgment to comply if the safety or security of the vessel is genuinely compromised. Any instance of switching off the AIS must be properly recorded in the ship's official logbook with the time, position, detailed reason, and subsequent reactivation details. The Home Office has not issued any official advisories to search and rescue vessels operating in UK waters to deactivate AIS transmissions.