Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will ensure that retired semi-submersible drilling rigs from the UK continental shelf are decommissioned in the UK.

Mobile drilling rigs are legally classified as ships and are covered by shipping regulations. The location of decommissioning or dismantling of drilling rigs is a commercial decision taken by the owners who will need to comply with prevailing environmental law. Currently a vessel leaving a UK port for decommissioning falls under the definition of waste in the EU Waste Shipment Regulation and would need to be recycled in an appropriately equipped facility. EU Ship Recycling Regulations are due to enter into force later this year that will replace the current system with a list of approved facilities for the recycling of vessels including drilling rigs.