The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or No ...

of the United Kingdom that is responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It works to prevent the loss of lives at sea and to prevent marine pollution. It is a subsidiary executive agency of the UK

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

and responsible through the

Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. It is also responsible for land based search and rescue helicopter operations since 2015.About us, MCA
GOV.UK. Retrieved 18 March 2016. Its motto is ''"Safer Lives, Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas"''. The organisation is currently led by Virginia McVea.

History

The MCA was established on 1 April 1998 following a government merger of the UK Coastguard Agency and the UK Marine Safety Agency (MSA). The MCA was led by Vice Admiral Sir Alan Michael Massey between 2010 and 2018. Brian Johnson then served as Chief Executive of the MCA between 2018 and 2022. From 2022 to February 2023, Damien Oliver served as Interim MCA Chief Executive Officer. In February 2023, Virginia McVea was appointed as Chief Executive Officer. In 2024, the MCA developed an online tool to provide easier search and filtering capabilities for ships and seafarers to find approved service stations for Life-saving appliances.

Responsibilities

Its responsibilities include coordinating

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR) on the coastline and at sea through

His Majesty's Coastguard His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is the section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within th ...

(HMCG), ensuring that ships meet international and UK safety standards, monitoring and preventing coastal

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of Body of water, water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and ...

and testing and issuing Merchant Navy Certificates of Competency (licences) for ships' officers and crew to STCW requirements. The MCA is chiefly responsible for the syllabus and national training standards issued by the Merchant Navy Training Board (based at the

UK Chamber of Shipping The UK Chamber of Shipping is the trade association and lobbying organisation of the UK shipping industry, representing around 200 member companies. They work with government, parliament, international organisations and others in the maritime ind ...

). The MCA also requires seafarers to be certificated by an MCA approved doctor to confirm they are of a sufficient medical standard for work at sea, known as 'ENG 1'. The MCA has three distinct "outward facing" elements - provision of

and prevention activity through

, port and flag state control of shipping through a network of Marine Offices and the development of international standards and policy for shipping through the

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO; ; ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a ...

. MCA utilizes airborne assets in the form of helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and drones for SAR, and other, operations and is going to make greater use of these technologies under the UKSAR2G contract to be awarded in 2024. The MCA has now established an

automatic identification system The automatic identification system (AIS) is an automatic tracking system that uses transceivers on ships and is used by vessel traffic services (VTS). When satellites are used to receive AIS signatures, the term ''Satellite-AIS'' (S-AIS) is ...

(AIS) network around the UK coast, for real-time tracking and monitoring of shipping movements from the shore.

Notices and Guidance

The MCA publishes Merchant Shipping Notices which contain the technical detail of regulations ( UK Statutory instruments). These are mandatory and must be complied with under UK legislation for UK flagged ships and ships in UK territorial waters. The MCA also provide UK Marine Guidance Notes and Marine Information Notices, designed to provide advice, guidance and information on topics such as pollution prevention and safety.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Water transport in the United Kingdom Executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Maritime transport authorities Sea rescue organisations of the United Kingdom Department for Transport British Merchant Navy

History

Responsibilities

Notices and Guidance

See also

References

External links