Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for how many years the Government has been issuing mooring permits for yachts visiting the British Indian Ocean territory; and how many such permits have been issued in each year for which records are available.

The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is not a tourist destination and permits to moor in the Outer Islands of BIOT are only issued where this is necessary to facilitate a vessel's safe passage across the Indian Ocean. Laws specifically enabling the Administration of BIOT to issue mooring permits (or the equivalent) were introduced in December 1993, but records of the total number of such permits issued only go back to 2004. The following numbers have been recorded: 2004 - 2; 2005 - 3; 2006 - 4; 2007 - 40; 2008 - 68; 2009 - 82; 2010 - 99; 2011 - 42; 2012 - 41; 2013 - 27; 2014 - 36; 2015 - 51; 2016 - 17 (to date).