Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer on 8 December 2025 to Question 97994 on Artic: Shipping, what are the (a) command arrangements and (b) cost contributions for shared ice cutter capability in the British Antarctic Territories.

The Ministry of Defence remains committed to supporting the UK's sovereign and wider interests in the Antarctic. HMS PROTECTOR routinely deploys to the Antarctic Peninsula supporting the UK's responsibilities to the Antarctic Treaty and the British Antarctic Territory.

To deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), we are developing options through the Defence Investment Plan for future Ice Patrol Ship capability. These options will consider requirements for the Antarctic, but also encompass the requirements for Arctic capabilities which the SDR identified as a region of increasing competition. These options will include cost and command factors.