Draft Merchant Shipping (Marine Equipment) Regulation 2025

The Committee consisted of the following Members:

Chair: Matt Western

Aquarone, Steff (North Norfolk) (LD)

† Baxter, Johanna (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) (Lab)

† Billington, Ms Polly (East Thanet) (Lab)

† Conlon, Liam (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)

† Cooper, John (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)

† Gilbert, Tracy (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)

† Glover, Olly (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)

† Greenwood, Lilian (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport)

† Hurley, Patrick (Southport) (Lab)

† Jenkin, Sir Bernard (Harwich and North Essex) (Con)

Johnson, Kim (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)

† Mather, Keir (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport)

† Mayhew, Jerome (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)

† Naish, James (Rushcliffe) (Lab)

† Smith, Greg (Mid Buckinghamshire) (Con)

† Smith, Sarah (Hyndburn) (Lab)

† Sullivan, Kirsteen (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)

Luanne Middleton, Committee Clerk

† attended the Committee

Second Delegated Legislation Committee

[Matt Western in the Chair]

Draft Merchant Shipping (Marine Equipment) Regulations 2025

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Merchant Shipping (Marine Equipment) Regulations 2025.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western. The draft regulations were laid before the House on 14 October, and their purpose is to simplify marine equipment legislation by consolidating and combining regulatory changes into one piece of legislation, providing greater clarity for industry. The regulations also bring the standards and requirements for ballast water management systems within their scope, introducing a new equivalents provision and removing Government ships from the scope of the legislative regime.

In line with international requirements for ships to carry safety and counter-pollution equipment—collectively referred to as “marine equipment”—that has been approved by the ship’s flag administration, the United Kingdom implemented the Merchant Shipping (Marine Equipment) Regulations 2016, which gave effect to the EU directive on marine equipment. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the 2016 regulations were amended in 2019 to ensure that they would continue to operate effectively. Amendments were also made by the Merchant Shipping (Marine Equipment) (UK and US Mutual Recognition Agreement) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which gave effect to the UK-USA mutual recognition agreement on marine equipment by providing for the mutual recognition of certificates of conformity for designated marine equipment, thereby opening up the large US market to UK manufacturers.

The draft regulations will revoke and replace the 2016 regulations and both sets of 2019 amending regulations, and will make three changes to the UK’s marine equipment regime. First, they will bring the type approval of ballast water management systems into the scope of the regulations. In 2022, the UK implemented new International Maritime Organisation requirements and standards for ballast water management systems through the Merchant Shipping (Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments) Regulations 2022. Those regulations included the type approval requirements for those systems. Bringing ballast water management systems within the scope of the marine equipment regulations will make it easier for industry to find and adhere to the relevant requirements. It will also prevent divergence in the approval processes between these systems and other items of marine equipment.

The Minister is describing a really good example of draft regulations being shaped by responses to a UK consultation. Is that a Brexit benefit?

Throughout the legislative process, both before and since Brexit, we have always worked hard on a departmental basis to engage with a broad range of stakeholders. We do so through this process as with any other, but if the hon. Member wishes to designate this as a Brexit success, I certainly will not stand in his way.

The MCA issues industry guidance through marine notices to assist the industry in understanding the requirements of the regulations, and new notices will be published alongside the regulations.

I have set out the purpose and scope of the regulations, which consolidate and simplify the UK’s marine equipment regime, thereby bringing clarity and confidence to the industry. The regulations reflect our continued commitment to uphold international standards while tailoring our legislative framework to the UK’s post-EU-exit context. I therefore commend the statutory instrument to the Committee.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western.

Maritime regulations are critical to maintaining high standards at sea and ensuring our compatibility with the many international maritime treaties to which the United Kingdom is a signatory. The safety, integrity and reputation of our maritime sector depend on a clear, consistent and modernised regulatory framework. It is therefore essential that our regulatory regime is updated periodically, in line with international standards, not only to ensure compliance but to make certain that it remains workable and effective for those across the industry who rely on it. The shipping and maritime equipment sectors are vital to the UK’s trade and economy, and they deserve a regime that helps them to prosper, innovate and compete on a global scale.

Broadly, as I understand it, the Government’s proposals are technical in nature and introduce only limited changes to the existing regulations. One of the more consequential proposals appears to be the approval regime for ballast water management systems. It may not be a great surprise to the Committee that my expertise does not extend to the finer points of ballast water management, so I defer to the judgment of the industry which, when consulted, indicated its support for the proposed changes, with only minimal comment. Given the lack of concern from those most directly affected, it seems reasonable to conclude that the changes are sensible and proportionate.

I wish to press the Minister on the equivalents provision in the regulations. The provisions allow for the installation of non-UK-approved equipment in certain circumstances. Will the Minister outline whether discussions have taken place with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency regarding the expected frequency and scale of such requests? Will he also provide assurances that the mechanism will not be used as a back-door route to circumvent post-Brexit approval requirements, but will instead apply only to genuine case-specific situations, thereby maintaining both the integrity and the safety of our regulatory regime?

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western. I put on the record very briefly the Liberal Democrats’ support for the proposed updating and expansion of maritime regulations.

I thank the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire and the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage for their contributions to this debate. The hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire said that he supports defending the need to ensure that our regulatory regime in the maritime space is as modern as it can be, both to facilitate UK trade and to ensure the safety of our seafarers. Those are sentiments that we share across the House, and it is great to hear his support for those principles.

The hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire asked me about discussions with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and the frequency and scale of requests for equipment that lies outside UK production. Wherever possible, we would of course like to see UK equipment being used on UK ships. I am happy to pick up with the MCA the question of the frequency with which it expects that non-UK manufactured equipment will be used on a case-by-case basis. However, it is my view, as a UK Government Minister, that wherever possible, we want to see British equipment being used on British ships.

The hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire asked me whether the regime, which is meant to be used on a case-by-case basis, will be used not to undermine post-Brexit arrangements, but instead to pursue the safety of our maritime industry. That is absolutely the intention of the regulations. They exist to ensure that wherever possible, we have world-leading equipment in place to protect our seafarers. Modernising the regulations, in the context of leaving the European Union, to ensure that we can continue to work with European allies and to meet our British regulatory obligations is the purpose of the statutory instrument, and it is the modus operandi of what we are seeking to achieve today.

Finally, on the mutual recognition of standards with like-minded nations in the Asia-Pacific and elsewhere, we seek alignment wherever possible on the incredibly high regulatory standards that the United Kingdom seeks to set. Whenever I go on to have discussions with Maritime Ministers from other countries about the notion of regulatory alignment, I will make the case that the UK is a world leader in this space and that, wherever possible, alignment is preferred.