Amendments to the MAIB regulations

From:: Marine Accident Investigation Branch
Published: 6 August 2025
Last updated: 4 September 2025 — See all updates

Summary

We are seeking views on the draft UK Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012.

This consultation ran from
11am on 6 August 2025 to 11:59pm on 30 September 2025

Consultation description

A six-week public consultation on revoking and replacing the UK Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012 to provide greater clarity and consistency for both the maritime industry and relevant authorities. The updated regulations will streamline investigative procedures, modernise terminology, and enhance reporting obligations. These changes aim to align the UK regulatory framework more closely with international maritime standards and best practices, ensuring improved transparency, accountability, and safety outcomes across the sector. This reflects the United Kingdom’s obligations under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS),1974, as amended, to comply with the Code of the International Standards and Recommended Practices for a Safety Investigation into a Marine Casualty or Marine Incident (the IMO Code).

Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents Andrew Moll OBE said:

The MAIB regularly reviews its enabling legislation to ensure the UK’s commitment to safety at sea, to reflect changing international and national requirements and obligations, and to reflect lessons from operational experience. The MAIB welcomes views on these regulations through the consultation period.

Further information

These regulations will:

improve compliance with the UK’s treaty obligations and align more fully with the international expectations and obligations contained in the IMO Code
simplify and clarify the 2012 Regulations to improve understanding and compliance
reflect policy development arising from operational experience
remove some requirements that arose from implementation of European Directive 2009/18/EC (the EU’s Accident Investigation Directive), and revoke EU Regulation 1286/2011 (the Common Methodology)
add criminal offences and penalties to existing requirements where they were previously missing

Documents

Reform of Statutory Instrument 2012 No. 1743, The Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations: Annex A – 2025 Draft

PDF, 362 KB, 20 pages

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