Under current UK legislation, there is no protection for craft on the National Historic Ships Registers, meaning NHS-UK is not able to prevent a significant vessel from being destroyed or scrapped if a decision is taken to end its life, although we make every effort to seek a viable alternative. During 2019-2023, in line with the objectives in our Forward Plan, we undertook the following activities to help the increasing number of registered historic vessels finding themselves at risk:
- published an updated second edition of Recording & Deconstructing Historic Vessels, the first two volumes in our three-part guidance series Understanding Historic Vessels
- improved the display and type of material held in relation to craft on the National Archive of Historic Vessels
- undertook an At Risk Assessment of the National Historic Fleet, introducing a traffic light system to highlight and monitor craft
- produced At Risk Guidance for vessel custodians detailing the help we can offer in at-risk situations, the best approach to take and what process to follow.
You can read and download our At Risk Guidance paper below, as well as summary reports of the At Risk Assessments carried out in Autumn 2023 and April 2025:
