UK protected wrecks: what the four regimes say about diving.

Four regimes

A wreck in UK waters can fall under more than one of these at once: the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 for historic and dangerous wrecks, the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 for military wrecks and war graves, the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 for reporting anything recovered, and in Scotland the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 for Historic Marine Protected Areas.

Wrecks can also be scheduled as monuments under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Historic England scheduled the "Pin Wreck" off Dorset in March 2025, the only shipwreck among the designations it highlighted for that year, according to Divernet.

Protection of Wrecks Act 1973

The Act received Royal Assent and came into force on 18 July 1973.

Historic wrecks: section 1

Section 1 lets the Secretary of State designate a restricted area around a wreck in UK waters that is of historical, archaeological or artistic importance and needs protecting from unauthorised interference. Without a licence, it is an offence in a restricted area to:

• tamper with, damage or remove any part of the wreck or anything that was in it;
• carry out diving or salvage directed at the wreck or its contents; or
• deposit anything that would obliterate, block access to or damage the site.

Causing or permitting any of these is also an offence. Licences are written, go only to people who are competent and properly equipped or have another legitimate reason, and can carry conditions; breaking a condition counts as acting without a licence. The Act has defences for emergencies, other statutory functions, and necessity caused by weather or navigational hazards.

In Wales, Cadw handles licence applications. For England, a law firm's 2017 article and search summaries say Historic England issues licences on behalf of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and that licences to visit or survey can be applied for online; Historic England's own page returned an error, so we could not confirm this. The same article, by Ashfords (10 November 2017), says licences are granted only where they benefit the site's care, understanding or public appreciation, that bathing, angling and navigation are allowed in restricted areas if they cause no damage, and that anchoring is allowed only for licensed work or in distress.

Dangerous wrecks: section 2

Section 2 lets the Secretary of State designate a prohibited area around a wreck whose contents make it a potential danger to life or property. Entering it without written authority, on the surface or underwater, is an offence. Ashfords (2017) names two wrecks designated as dangerous, the SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames Estuary off Kent and the SS Castilian off Anglesey, and says the Maritime and Coastguard Agency administers both with a no-entry policy.

How many designated wrecks

No current official count was found, and the published figures differ. Ashfords (November 2017) gives 52 designated wrecks in England and 62 in the UK under section 1. Wikipedia (secondary) gives 60 sites as of July 2007 and 61 UK sites as of 2011, before the Scottish designations were revoked. Wikipedia also names the Cattewater Wreck at Plymouth, designated in 1973, as the first.

Scotland is different

Section 1 was repealed for Scotland from 1 November 2013 by the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, which replaced it with Historic Marine Protected Areas. Wikipedia (secondary) says a 2013 order revoked all the original Scottish designations.

Protection of Military Remains Act 1986

Royal Navy Command's questions and answers for divers, dated 13 August 2026 and produced with BSAC, say the Act was introduced mainly to protect the sanctity of wrecks holding human remains, and for safety and security.

Protected Places and Controlled Sites

Under the Act as it stands, a military wreck is protected only if it is designated by statutory instrument, either as a Protected Place (Schedule 1) or a Controlled Site (Schedule 2). The Royal Navy's Q&A explains the difference for divers: a Protected Place may be dived, but divers must not enter its enclosed interior or remove artefacts; a Controlled Site may be dived only under a licence from the Ministry of Defence. GOV.UK guidance, last updated on 30 January 2018, adds that all crashed military aircraft are protected automatically while vessels must be designated individually, describes Protected Places as look but don't touch, and lists unlicensed salvage, tampering with remains and entering hatches or openings as offences.

The Q&A says anyone may apply for a Controlled Site licence through Royal Navy Heritage with a full project plan and set dates, and that more licences have been granted in recent years. Some Controlled Sites still hold munitions, so permission there is usually given only under Royal Navy supervision.

The current list is in the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2026, published in March 2026. Wikipedia (secondary) says it came into force on 30 March 2026 and revoked the previous order. We did not read the official text.

Proposed: the Armed Forces Bill 2026, clause 48

This is a proposal and was not law when we checked on 21 October 2026. Clause 48 of the Armed Forces Bill 2026 would automatically make every wreck lost in military service a Protected Place, unless it is already a Controlled Site, and would remove the Act's time limits, which at present leave older military wrecks impossible to protect. According to the MOD's Q&A:

• the change was prompted by better wreck-finding technology and recent salvage from undesignated military wrecks, and the 1986 assumption that depth protects wrecks no longer holds;
• "military service" would cover vessels under the Admiralty when lost, including merchant ships formally requisitioned for the armed forces;
• the MOD cannot publish a single list of every such wreck and expects divers to do reasonable research before diving;
• the Bill must receive Royal Assent by December 2026, and the change is expected to come into force in February 2027;
• the changes are not aimed at respectful divers who visit in good faith without disturbing, entering or removing anything. The MOD names HMS M2 in Lyme Bay and HMS E-49 off Shetland as Protected Places that are already dived regularly.

We could not confirm the Bill's progress after August 2026.

Merchant Shipping Act 1995: reporting wreck

GOV.UK guidance (last updated 30 January 2018) says anyone who recovers wreck material from UK territorial waters, or brings wreck material into the UK, must report it to the Receiver of Wreck, part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, within 28 days on form MSF 6200. This applies whatever the material's age, size or apparent value, in tidal waters out to the 12 nautical mile limit, but not in non-tidal lakes and rivers. Section 255 of the Act defines wreck as jetsam, flotsam, lagan and derelict found in or on the shores of the sea or tidal water.

Unclaimed wreck passes to the Crown, or a Crown grantee, after one year. A salvor who acted properly is likely to receive a salvage award, which cannot exceed the value of what was salved. Late reporting can lead to proceedings or a fine.

Scotland: Historic Marine Protected Areas

Divernet reports that since the first Historic Marine Protected Areas were designated in 2013, it has been a criminal offence to remove, alter or disturb the protected sites. The Scottish Government announced on 11 August 2025 new Historic MPAs for Scapa Flow in Orkney and for the Queen of Sweden, a Swedish East India Company ship lost off Shetland in 1745, taking effect on 1 November 2025.

The Scapa Flow designation includes the wrecks of the German High Seas Fleet scuttled in 1919, according to Scottish Government documents we saw only in summary; we could not confirm their detail. A dive magazine, also seen only in summary, reports that HMS Royal Oak and HMS Vanguard in Scapa Flow are not part of the Historic MPA but are Controlled Sites under the 1986 Act, so diving them needs MOD permission.