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Alan Massey News

05 Oct 2018

UK Spurs Autonomous Shipping Development

An example of an unmanned vessel, SEA-KIT’s Unmanned Surface Vessel USV Maxlimer Maldon, is capable of deploying and recovering an autonomous submersible craft. SEA-KIT are a finalist of the Shell Ocean Discovery X-Prize competition (Photo: MCA)

The autonomous and smart shipping industry is set to receive a boost, after the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Department for Transport (DfT), in collaboration with the National Oceanography Center’s (NOC) Marine Robotics Innovation Center, successfully secured £1 million in a bid to accelerate the U.K. into a world-leading position in this area.The funding, awarded by the U.K. Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund…

25 Apr 2018

Yacht Manager Aquited of Manslaughter Charges

The director of a yacht management firm was cleared of manslaughter charges bought on by the death of four sailors in 2014.Four U.K. men – two in their twenties and two in their fifties – were killed when the 40-foot Cheeki Rafiki capsized in the Atlantic in May 2014 while returning across the Atlantic Ocean to Southampton from Antigua. The sailors’ bodies were never recovered.Yacht manager Doug Innes, who had been accused of failing to have the yacht properly checked ahead of its voyage and to ensure that its certification was in date for the intended trip, has been found not guilty on four charges of gross negligence manslaughter today at Winchester Crown Court.Innes along with his company Stormforce Coaching had denied all charges…

16 Mar 2018

MCA’s CEO Massey to Retire by End 2018

Sir Alan Massey (Photo: MCA)

Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) chief executive Sir Alan Massey announced he plans to retire from the role before the end of 2018. The Department of Transport will begin its search for Massey’s successor on March 19. Massey will continue in his role until late 2018 to allow the chief executive appointment process to take place. Massey joined the MCA in July 2010 after a 33-year career with the Royal Navy, where he left as Second Sea Lord. During his eight-year tenure at MCA…

03 Jan 2018

UK Shipping Minister Confirms CEC Review

Nautilus International has welcomed confirmation from shipping minister John Hayes that the government has agreed to the Union’s calls for a review of the UK’s system for issuing Certificates of Equivalent Competency (CECs). Nautilus is a trade union and professional organisation representing more than 22,000 maritime professionals in the UK, Netherlands and Switzerland. In a letter to the Union, the minister said he had asked Sir Alan Massey, head of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), to undertake a review of the way in which CECs are given to foreign officers seeking work on UK-flagged ships. Sir Alan has told Nautilus that the review will be treated as ‘a matter of priority’ and the MCA will work with the Union, other social partners and industry experts to progress it.

12 Sep 2016

Maritime Skills Academy Launches Survival Complex in Dover

The Survival Complex was open for attendees to freely (Photo: Maritime Skills Academy)

Taking place on Thursday, September 8, Maritime Skills Academy celebrated the launch of its specialist training facility showcasing all that the state-of-the-art Academy has to offer to key industry guests. An integral part of the Viking ‘Family of Companies, the Academy provides dynamic training, with its expert in-house trainers delivering bespoke courses, which encompass the diversity of the maritime industry: including cruise ships, superyachts, renewable support vessels and the oil and gas sector.

07 Jul 2016

UK Overhauls its Survey and Inspection Program

Plans to ensure there is a full maritime survey and inspection team covering the whole U.K., will see more remote working and a slight change to where some of the marine offices are based. The U.K. Maritime & Coastguard Agency has undertaken a review of the way it carries out its surveys and inspections and recently consulted on the locations of its marine offices. It has also, with its staff, reviewed the way the organization of those offices is structured. As a result of both consultations, changes have been made to the original proposals including keeping two offices open that were originally marked for closure and identifying a senior experienced marine surveyor who will have over-arching responsibility for the River Thames.

30 Dec 2015

Barham Named UK Ship Register Director

Simon Barham (Photo: UK MCA)

Simon Barham has been appointed as the first U.K. Ship Register Director at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, scheduled to start his role in February 2016. Barham brings to the position both commercial and technical experience from his 40 year career in the industry. He initially served at sea for 16 years and since then has held senior positions ashore within both ship owning and ship management companies across the world. Previous roles include chief operations officer at Bibby Ship Management…

09 Dec 2015

Historic Cannon Returned to its Dutch Home

Photo: U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency

An official ceremony marking the handing back by the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency of a bronze cannon to the city where it was first made, has been held in Zierikzee, Netherlands. The cannon had been brought ashore by commercial diver Vincent Woolsgrove from off the Kent coast but was recovered by the MCA during a search warrant executed in 2011. Woolsgrove was charged with fraud offences relating to other Dutch cannons and is currently serving a two year sentence after pleading guilty.

09 Sep 2015

New MCA Role to Spur UK Ship Register Growth

With the aim of growing the U.K. Ship Register and attracting more maritime business to the U.K., a new a senior level director role has been created at the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) as part of the government’s aspiration to grow the nation’s share with the global maritime sector. The new position, which will be tasked with encouraging ship owners to join the U.K. Ship Register, was announced by Sir Alan Massey, CEO of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at an event during London International Shipping Week. “The UK Flag has seemingly become less attractive to ship owners and operators and we cannot go on ignoring the problem,” Massey said. “. . . Something has needed to change. In recent years the number of ships and the total gross tonnage on the U.K.

15 Jun 2015

Diver Pleads Guilty to Fraud Involving Historic Cannons

Vincent Woolsgrove with one of the Dutch cannons (Photo: Maritime and Coastguard Agency)

A commercial diver has pleaded guilty at Southampton Crown Court to a fraud offence in excess of £46,000 following a two year investigation by the U.K. Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA). The diver, Vincent Woolsgrove of Ramsgate, Kent, reported finding five cannons during the summer 2007, two from the wreck of the warship, London, and three in international waters off the coast of Kent. The cannons recovered from the warship were both very rare bronze Peter Gill and commonwealth cannons.

13 May 2015

UK Register’s Largest Ship Docks in Southampton

Photo: UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency

The largest vessel registered in the UK Ship Register has arrived in Southampton today. CMA CGM Kerguelen, a 398-meter-long containership operated by the CMA CGM Group, is big enough to pack five and a half A380 Airbuses on. It is capable of carrying 17,772 TEU (twenty feet equivalent units) and is driven by an engine of 9,000 horsepower. Sir Alan Massey, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, with responsibility for the UK Ship Register, has been invited to visit the vessel while it is in Southampton.

14 Oct 2014

Minister Awards MCA’s Trainee of the Year

Jonty Turnbull

The “hard work and dedication” of a 25-year old Merchant Navy officer cadet has been recognized with an award that will be presented by the U.K. Shipping Minister at a ceremony in London tomorrow, Wednesday, October 15, 2014. Jonty Turnbull of Blackpool and the Fylde College, who was serving on-board the Foreland Shipping-owned vessel, MV Hartland Point, is the 2014 winner of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) Officer Trainee of the Year Award. The award will be presented at Haberdashers Hall…

16 Jul 2014

Work Starts on New UK Coastguard Training Center

Work on the new U.K. national Coastguard training center in Hampshire has officially started today, Wednesday, 16 July. His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent cut the first sod of turf for the new center at Daedalus Airfield in Lee on Solent. The purpose built facility will provide Coastguard Rescue Officers with essential training and skills to help them deal with emergency situations on the U.K. coastline. Facilities will include an 8 meter-high ‘cliff face’ to train teams in how to carry out cliff rescues. This climbing wall will descend 4 meters into a pit, to enable Coastguards to gain experience of working in enclosed spaces. The site will also be the new base for the Hill Head Coastguard Rescue Team.

02 Jul 2014

London International Shipping Week Set for 2015

U.K. Shipping Minister Stephen Hammond MP

The British Government has once again thrust its weight behind London International Shipping Week with an official visit to the LISW2015 stand at Posidonia in Greece by the British Ambassador in Athens followed by public shows of support at additional events by the head of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Sir Alan Massey, and U.K. Shipping Minister Stephen Hammond MP. More than 70 guests gathered for an informal British drinks reception at Posidonia 2014 to mark the beginning of the countdown to London International Shipping Week (LISW) which is set to take place September 7-12, 2015.

21 May 2013

Maritime London Delegation to Head for Athens

Greek/British Flags: Image courtesy of Maritime London

Maritime London will be leading a delegation of British maritime professionals to Athens, Greece, next month. The high level group will present to an audience of shipowners at the British Ambassador’s Residence on 17 June, 2013. The delegation will be accompanied by UK Shipping Minister, Stephen Hammond, and Sir Alan Massey, Chief Executive of the UK Ship Register. Maritime London chief executive Doug Barrow said: “The Greek British maritime relationship has always been strong and I’m delighted that we have government recognition of the importance that Greek shipowners play in the UK economy.