The small British crews are provided by Foreland Shipping and are required to be sponsored reserves as a condition of service, which means they can be called up to become part of the Armed Forces in times of crisis.

[2] Of the six ships, MV Longstone and Beachy Head were on charter to the civilian company Transfennica operating a RoRo cargo ferry service in the Baltic Sea, connecting Hanko in Finland and Lübeck in Germany.

[3] MV Hartland Point was part of the COUGAR 12 deployment under the Commander Amphibious Task Group and also active in operations off the Cornish coast in 2012.

[4][5] MV Hurst Point made a port call at Gibraltar in August 2013 and was part of the next year's COUGAR 13 deployment.

In October 2021 the MoD issued a Request for Information (RFI) for an “interim” Strategic Sealift capability to begin in January 2025.

[18] In November 2022, Foreland Shipping was awarded an "interim" seven-year contract, valued at £625M, to continue the service until December 2031.