Sir Alan Massey, CEO of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced there would be significant changes at the UK Government body, with an increased focus on customer service.

“We at the MCA take the superyacht sector very seriously,” Massey stated. “We want you to have the legal certainty about where you are, so that yachts and crew are tradeable around the world.”

Massey also spoke proudly about the UK’s representation in the crew sector. “Twenty per cent of the superyacht industry’s 50,000 seafarers are from the UK,” he noted.

We want you to have the legal certainty about where you are, so that yachts and crew are tradeable around the world.

Massey stated the MCA was incredibly proud of the Large Yacht Code (LY3) and hopes the code will help in the association’s mission to grow the Red Ensign fleet, “as quickly as possible”. Massey stated there had been a request from the UK Government to grow the maritime industry, and the success of this growth has been put down to an increase in the number of vessels flying the Red Ensign flag. Massey added that part of the MCA’s measurement of success was focusing more on visibility than gross tonnage.

However, there was an honest admission from the CEO that there are improvements that need to be made. “We need to get better,” Massey asserted, explaining that the UK Government has recommended a number of ways of improving the maritime body, the focus of which will be customer service, and closed with the promise, “You’re going to find us much more easy to deal with.” 

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MCA - Maritime and Coastguard Agency / Ensign

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