Divers to be banned from raiding military shipwrecks after new legislation passes

Divers will be banned from entering British shipwrecks in a matter of weeks as the Armed Forces Bill cleared at third reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday.

The new legislation will give shipwrecked vessels a “protected places” label, meaning divers will be able to look at them but not touch or go inside them.

Under the current laws in place, more than 100 shipwrecks have made the list of protected places after given the designation by government ministers.

The new legislation is expected to provide legal protections to thousands of sailors and mariners who have lost their lives at sea.

Under existing laws, more than 100 wrecks are on the list of protected places after ministers stepped in to give them the designation.

Among them is HMS Nottingham, a cruiser which sank during the First World War in 1916 and was discovered in the North Sea around 70 miles off the Northumberland coast last year.

French minesweeper Emile Deschamps, which was lost off the Kent coast in 1940 carrying troops as part of the Dunkirk evacuation, was also listed earlier this year.

By changing the law, the protected places label will apply without the need for a minister to intervene. Ministers are currently not allowed to designate vessels as protected places if they sank before August 4 1914.

This cut-off date will be lifted, so vessels which sank before the First World War will receive protections. The Bill, once it is passed, will also establish a Defence Housing Service, tasked with “improving the supply and quality of defence housing”.

Changes will be made to the military justice system, including increased investigatory powers for the service police and enhanced protections for victims of sexual offences.

The legislation will raise the maximum call-up age for the strategic reserve of retired and former military personnel from 55 to 65.

While the Bill has now been backed by MPs in the Commons and peers in the Lords, both Houses of Parliament must settle on the final wording in a tidying up process sometimes known as ping-pong.

Defence minister Lord Coaker has previously described the law as an opportunity to “renew the nation’s contract with those who serve”.

At second reading earlier this year, he said: “This substantial Bill does much for our current and former personnel and the armed forces community as a whole to provide better support, better housing, better protections for victims of crime, and to provide greater resilience for the nation by increasing the size and availability of the strategic reserves.”

The existing Armed Forces Act, which the Bill will update, is due to expire on December 14.