Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with the Malaysia authorities with the aim of preventing inappropriate activity on the wrecks of HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales.

The Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have sought assistance from Malaysia in preventing unauthorised salvage and damage to the military maritime graves of HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales, mindful of the difficulty of doing so when they are situated in international waters. Our High Commission in Kuala Lumpur released a press statement on 23 May welcoming the Malaysian impounding of a vessel responsible for illegally disturbing and salvaging scrap from wrecks in the area.