New legal protections to preserve WWI shipwrecks | The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentIndependentNext articleIndependent Bulletin homepageSocial PartnerWe are 8 logo (opens in a new tab)AllNewsSportCultureLifestyleHarry CockburnTuesday 12 August 2025 08:35 BSTWW1 map: How Europe changed in just one minuteNew legal protections have been granted to the largest concentration of wrecked warships off the British coast at Scapa Flow, Orkney.This designation creates a Historic Marine Protected Area (MPA) for the site, which includes seven German High Seas fleet battleships scuttled in 1919 and over 90 other vessels.A second Historic MPA was also announced for the Queen of Sweden, an 18th-century Swedish East India Company ship that sank off the coast of Shetland.The new MPA status makes it an offence to remove anything from these wrecks, aiming to preserve them for future generations.The Scottish government announced these protections to safeguard nationally significant underwater heritage sites, which are popular with divers and contribute to local economies.In fullUK’s largest concentration of wrecked warships given new legal protectionsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in