Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of vessels transiting the Indian Ocean with armed guards have UK-licensed firearms onboard.

The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) is responsible for licensing Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs) which provide armed security guards to protect vessels transiting the Indian Ocean High Risk Area from the threat of piracy. It also licences the vessel-based armouries which PMSCs use to store their weapons.

The licensing process for PMSCs and vessel-based armouries does not require information about where firearms originated, and therefore ECJU has no record of this information.

ECJU does not proactively monitor or record the number of vessels within the Indian Ocean.