Maritime and Coastguard Agency
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Maritime and Coastguard Agency
an executive agency of the UK's Department for Transport with overall responsibility for Britain's 16,800 kilometres (10,500 mls.) of coastline. It is the UK authority responsible for responding to pollution from shipping and offshore oil and gas installations, and its Counter Pollution & Salvage Branch, with HM Coastguard, responds to any emergency which may arise within the UK's search and rescue (SAR) area. SAR is coordinated through its network of six Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres, and its twelve Maritime Rescue sub-centres and sector bases, and civilian helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are stationed around the UK for lifesaving and anti-pollution measures.
It is also responsible for checking that ships entering UK waters meet UK and International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations; it monitors the policy on, and consistency of, port state control inspections and the inspections of UK vessels; and is the authority for the training and certification of UK seafarers. The Receiver of Wreck is also part of its organization.
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Maritime and Coastguard Agency
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is a UK executive agency working to prevent the loss of lives at sea and is responsible for implementing British and International maritime law and safety policy.
This involves coordinating search and rescue (SAR) at sea through Her Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG), ensuring that ships meet international and UK safety standards, monitoring and preventing coastal water pollution and testing and issuing Merchant Navy Certificates of Competency (licenses) for ships' officers and crew to STCW requirements. The organisation is led by Sir Alan Massey, its Chief Executive, who took up post in July 2010.[1]
The MCA has three distinct "outward facing" elements - provision of search and rescue and prevention activity through Her Majesty's Coastguard, port and flag state control of shipping through a network of Marine Offices and the development of international standards and policy for shipping through the International Maritime Organisation.
The MCA has now established an Automatic Identification System (AIS) network around the UK coast, for real-time tracking and monitoring of shipping movements from the shore.
Its motto is "Safer Lives, Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas".
See also
- Royal National Lifeboat Institution
- Her Majesty's Coastguard
- Code of safe working practices
- British Merchant Navy
- Merchant Navy
External links
- Maritime and Coastguard Agency official site
References
- ^ Organisation Chart [1], Department for Transport. Retrieved on 2010-08-11.
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Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea
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