The MCA is proposing retaining eight offices in Falmouth, Southampton, Dover, Liverpool, Cardiff in Wales, Glasgow and Aberdeen in Scotland and Belfast (Bangor) in Northern Ireland. It will also establish marine offices at the existing Humber Coastguard Operations Centre in Bridlington and a new site in the Ipswich area.
The move would save the MCA around £400,000 a year
But the shipping union, RMT believes these closures will be “damaging”
The RMT General Secretary, Mick Cash said, “The MCA’s Marine Office closure plans are on a par with the Coalition’s dangerous cuts to coastguards and local tax offices. These plans would jeopardise the UK’s ability to operate a safe and secure ports network, as well as the future provision of seafarer services.”
“The regional impact of these closures would also be damaging, with the plan to close the Tyne Marine Office in 2017 a particular threat to the North East economy and the cluster of maritime workers and services in the region, including the offshore supply and decommissioning sectors. RMT will fight to keep the Marine Office in Tyne and elsewhere open, to safeguard the future of seafarer services and to promote fast and effective certification of ships working from UK ports,” concludes Cash.
The RMT is also opposed to proposals to change MCA working practices. These include an online booking portal for vessel surveys and inspections, issuing certificates digitally, moving its Seafarers Documentation System online, a database of surveyor competence and outsourcing of survey and inspection work to ‘Recognised Organisations’ and Red Ensign Group administrations.
The RMT believes this amounts “to an attack on seafarer support and a major de-regulation in survey standards”.
However, in its consultation document, the MCA states the move would result in offices having “better balanced workloads and a strategically coherent geographical footprint around the UK”.
It says it plans to establish “a remote, IT-enabled working regime” based around its surveyors to minimise the impact on customers affected by office closure.
The MCA admits the proposals potentially impact on the availability of venues for MCA oral examinations. It is investigating the use of other venues.
The consultation closes on 21 April
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency#consultations
Read more at https://www.ybw.com/news-from-yachting-boating-world/opposition-to-mca-plans-to-axe-marine-offices-18482#4E7RhuzoPQi0WUej.99
