Regulatory & Technical Services Group

The Board of Trustees of the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) has reluctantly made the decision to suspend all current operations because of the ongoing Coronavirus situation.  As from midnight 18/03/20 all NCI stations have suspended watchkeeping duties and will remain closed until further notice.

18 March 2020

The Cruising Association is advising its members to be aware that Covid-19 presents a challenge to cruising unprecedented outside wartime. The situation and the measures being taken by various governments are fast moving and members are advised to follow these measures closely through the usual news media.

In deciding whether and where to cruise, the CA’s RATS (Regulations and Technical Services) group advises the following should be considered:

Following the proposals for the future use of red diesel in the Budget Statement on Wednesday 11 March 2020, the Cruising Association (CA) notes that from April 2022, private pleasure vessels will no longer be able to use red diesel for propulsion but will be able and are indeed entitled to use it for on-board heating purposes. Other marine commercial vessels such as fishing boats will still be able to use red diesel but at the lower duty rate.

Important update 12/03/20: demise of CG66 is brought forward to end of March 2020

The Cruising Association’s Regulatory and Technical Service group (RATS) has today been advised by the Marine and Coastguard Agency (MCA) that the scrapping of the CG66 Safety Identification Scheme - the name given to the MCA’s free and voluntary scheme for registering identification and other details of pleasure craft and vessels - has been brought forward from the end of July to the end of March.

In formal terms the UK left the EU on January 31. However, due to the transition period that is included as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU, nothing will change until the end of Transition Period – currently scheduled for December 31, 2020. This means that all existing rules will stay in place during 2020, such as free movement of goods, services and people, Union (VATpaid) status of yachts, and the existing immigration rules.

Do you use Admiralty Small Craft Folio charts? UKHO has just announced that it is planning to withdraw them. RATS is urging members who use and value these charts to let UKHO know of their views, but hurry: the deadline for comments is October 11 now extended to 31 October! .

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has made the following announcement:

As the 2019 UK sailing season approaches, members are reminded that the MCA have confirmed that radio checks with HMCG should not be a first resort as it ties up the air and increases operator workload.