“Brexit has come with some major challenges,” says Alistair Hackett, MD at Ocean Safety. Those challenges have far-reaching consequences for the commercial marine industry. He says his company has had to adapt to meet the new regulations to enable UK-flagged commercial vessels to operate within the law. As such Ocean Safety is currently focused on making sure its product range is fully compliant with the UK’s colloquially known Red Ensign.

Post-Brexit, any EU Marine Equipment Directive (MED) approved product (commonly referred to as Ships Wheel Approval) manufactured after 1 January 2023 also has to be approved to the new UK Marine Equipment Regulation (MER), known as Red Ensign approval, and by SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea).

Pre-Brexit, most safety equipment used by UK-flagged commercial vessels had to be approved to the international SOLAS regulations as well as MED/Ships Wheel Approval.

“The implication of this is that any safety product manufactured after 1 January 2023 without the Red Ensign approval simply cannot be used on a UK-flagged commercial vessel, whether it’s a merchant ship, fishing vessel or commercially operated leisure craft (where ISO rules do not apply),” warns Hackett.

He says a quick guide for an operator or skipper to this new approval is this: if a product needed a Ships Wheel, it now also needs to have a Red Ensign mark.

This has far-reaching effects for those who need to replace equipment.

“From an operator’s perspective, the new regulation is an obstacle that needs navigating as it poses added complications if not fully understood,” says Hackett. “For example, if an operator needs to buy a new liferaft today for their existing UK-flagged vessel, wherever they are in the world at the time, they can’t just replace like for like.

“The liferaft must now hold MER approval and display the Red Ensign logo if manufactured after the beginning of January this year. And if their supplier isn’t going down the MER approval route, or has yet to gain approval, they’ll need to find an alternative supplier.

“It’s likely that this will be well supported in the UK by manufacturers, however, there is the potential for issues if equipment needs to be replaced while overseas as the new regulation is going to take time for both suppliers and operators to fully understand. The list of products it applies to is extensive, including everything from flares and fire extinguishers to lifejackets and liferafts. Overseas manufacturers will need to make their own judgment as to whether gaining the approval is necessary for the market of their product.”

Hackett says that the new legislation only applies to UK-flagged commercial vessels, so the first decision manufacturers are faced with is whether to seek MER approval [Red Ensign] in addition MED approval [Ships Wheel].

“For many manufacturers, UK flagged vessels are a small part of their market. In reality most will seek Red Ensign approval, but not all, and those that do won’t be ready with everything straight away.”

Hackett says that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is responsible for the policing of this regulation and has a list of MER-approved products on its website which is constantly being updated.

“As it’s clear that it’s going to take time for suppliers, surveyors, operators, skippers and manufacturers to get used to the new rules, the moral of the story needs to be ‘if in doubt, ask’. We’re certainly happy to offer advice, as are approved surveyors and the MCA.”

As a leading supplier of commercial lifesaving equipment, Hackett says that Ocean Safety is committed to ensuring commercial operators and seafarers have a safe working environment while at sea. Therefore, he sees it as imperative that Ocean Safety supports the new regulation, to ensure that it can continue to supply high-quality, approved product.

“All our liferafts already have this approval,” – the company’s one of only two British manufacturers who have – “and it’s our intention, over time, to have all our MED products MER approved too.

“As not all manufacturers are choosing to follow this route, we feel there’s an opportunity for the Ocean Safety brand to flourish even further.

“As time moves on and adoption increases, the MER regulations will become less of an obstacle for operators, but for the time being we’ll take this opportunity to reaffirm our position as leader in the field and follow MER approval for all new commercial products developed under the Ocean Safety brand.”

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