§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the absence in the Royal Navy of saturation-trained personnel and support with expertise in deep-water diving for long periods and the employment of foreign offshore civilian divers for missions involving national security and the recovery of sensitive materials. [139720]
§ Mr. SpellarThe Ministry of Defence has effectively used civilian saturation-trained divers since the early 1990s. It is not cost-effective for the Royal Navy to retain saturation-trained personnel for isolated incidents. UK 337W contractors involved in this area of work have the appropriate level of security clearance. In addition our Salvage and Mooring Organisation maintains the ability, with the use of commercial assets, to provide assistance to or recovery of a nuclear submarine or the recovery of objects from the seabed. This arrangement allows MOD to tailor the recovery to the specific tasks. Foreign offshore divers would however be used if they were best placed to prevent loss of life.