Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

The Minister kindly referred to Clause 112, "Interpretation of this Part". Perhaps I may add a brief comment on that clause. I am a little surprised to see that the interpretation refers largely to British vessels. As has been made clear from the recent reference to the wreck of HMS "Victory" on the Casquets, a lot of these wrecks are not necessarily British vessels. I am concerned that there are some extremely entrepreneurial people from other countries who will see what they think is an interesting wreck in our jurisdiction and that we have no means of stopping them. I hope that the clause can be looked at again to see whether the provisions could embrace waters that are definitely under our control, where foreigners come and hijack these wrecks.