Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research is being undertaken to find improved methods, for example the use of radar and optical satellites, to track and monitor merchant and fishing vessels which switch off their Automatic Identification System signals.

Other than the Channel Navigation Information Service, that monitors ships movements in the Dover Strait, Her Majesty’s Coastguard does not actively monitor all vessel movements around the United Kingdom’s coastal waters.

Her Majesty’s Coastguard has recently supported law enforcement authorities in identifying anomalous vessel movements specifically in the Dover Strait by trialling a new radar system that can identify movements for those vessels that are not transmitting an Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal or have a legal requirement to have AIS device fitted.

The trial was an operational success and it is hoped to expand this specific capability in to other maritime areas that intelligence suggests criminal activity is taking place.