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Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Crew

Asked by John McDonnellLabourMinistry of DefenceTabled Answered 4 February 2026UIN 109056

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the current level of operational crewing is at the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Answered by Al Carns

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) maintains its vessels at the required safe-crewing levels to meet all operational commitments. Crewing requirements vary by ship class and operational tasking; however, all RFA vessels deployed on operations or held at readiness are crewed to the levels necessary to ensure safety, compliance, and effective delivery of defence outputs.

The Ministry of Defence continues to monitor RFA workforce levels closely and is taking forward a range of measures to support recruitment, training, and retention across the service. For security reasons, detailed operational crewing figures are not disclosed.

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