The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s Large Yacht Services team played host to UK Flag customers in September at exclusive update and networking event held at the Splendid Hotel in Nice, France.

After over two years apart, with the COVID-19 pandemic and necessary travel restrictions, the event provided a much-welcome opportunity for face-to-face contact with colleagues across the yachting industry, and a chance to discuss best practice and consistency.

UK Flag customers from across the globe were in attendance, ranging from yacht management and yacht builders, to flag and class surveyors, captains, naval architects and representatives from superyacht organisations – many of whom were travelling on to Monaco for the Yacht Show, which started the following day. Other yacht services providers, including Superyacht Art Consultant Pandora Mather-Lees and Emma Wise, Sales Director of marine navigation company ChartWorld International, were also in attendance to answer any related questions from UK Flag customers.

The event began bright and early on a Tuesday morning, with coffee and pastries offering the chance for colleagues to reconnect and catch-up with MCA personnel, as well as others in the industry. Head of Large Yacht Services, Adam Jackson, opened the event with a short welcome speech, introducing the various speakers from the MCA and the topics to be covered.

The first presentation of the day was delivered by the MCA’s Chief Examiner, Ajit Jacob, who gave an update on crew certification and training. Ajit talked about some of the changes in the industry, such as digitalisation, the shift to green fuels, and the availability of improved immersive training tools, and how this has impacted certification and training requirements.

He also shared an update from the Cadet Training & Modernisation Programme, and how the planned changes will not only deliver benefits for cadets but companies and operators as well. The programme, which is chaired by the MCA, is the most significant reform of the sector in the last 30 years and involves 30 maritime organisations working together to deliver the 23 recommendations identified by Maritime Skills Commission Seafarer Cadet Training Review. .

This was followed by an update from Adam Jackson on the Red Ensign Group (REG) Yacht Code, which included an overview of the SOLAS 2020 Amendments as well as the changes to be expected in the 2024 Version 2.

To close out the first half of the day, LYS Surveyor and Technical Communications Lead Nick Parrott delivered an informative presentation on the use of lithium-ion batteries on board yachts. Lithium-ion batteries are one of the options being considered in the pursuit of greener energy sources.

While there is great industry interest in the potential of these batteries and they offer many benefits, such as high-energy density, maintenance-free and minimal voltage drop across discharge, there are significant safety considerations vessel owners and operators need to consider as well. Nick explained why lithium-ion batteries can fail and the potential dangers that comes with the wrong storage and operating conditions.

The MCA are currently working on a Marine Guidance Notice (MGN), which Nick also gave an update on, touching upon the areas that would be covered and what the industry could expect. There was significant interest in the batteries and planned guidance from the audience, with a lengthy Q&A session and debate at the close of Nick’s talk.

Following a short coffee break, MCA Marine Technology Policy Manager Jennifer Clough opened the second part of the day with a presentation on Marine Equipment, providing an important update on the new regulations coming into force on 1 January 2023.

From this date, marine equipment will need to the carry the UK conformity mark, the Red Ensign, to on UK ships, but Jennifer explained to the audience how this would work in practice for Large Commercial Yachts, why this was happening and where they could find more guidance. She also briefly talked through how UK approval is conducted and where to find a list of all marine equipment that has passed the UK conformity assessment.

To close, the LYS team were joined by Jonathan Watson, Superyacht Lawyer and Partner at MFB Solicitors, for a short talk on all things tax related. Jonathan explained the types of tax yacht owners and operators can expect, focusing particularly on the two types of VAT and the risks of the different structures. There was also a conversation around the relationship between EU import VAT and the Flag, and the tax associated with newbuilds. Jonathan finished by discussing the implications of Brexit and how this affects the VAT-paid status of UK-flagged vessels that were in the UK at the end of the transition period (30/12/2020) and those who were not.

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