Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department and the Marine Management Office have given to fishers on the recent type withdrawal of an IVMS product.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) received information indicating that the MS44 Inshore Vessel Monitoring System (IVMS) device that has been marketed by Maritime Systems Ltd was different to the device that was type-approved by the MMO in November 2021 and may not meet the required specification set out in the published approval process. Concern was centred around transmission strengths of the MS44 IVMS device, specifically in regard to its 4G capability.

So that the MMO could provide individuals with the reassurance needed to move forward with installation, type approval was temporally suspended to allow for a review to take place. Additional supporting information was requested regarding the functionality of the device and assurances were sought that the actual device that will be offered to industry moving forward is the MS44 device as approved within the original type approval programme.

The additional information provided by Maritime Systems Ltd confirms that the MS44 device continues to meet the required specification criteria, including 4G functionality. As a result of the review, this device remains one of the approved IVMS devices available for purchase.

On 7 March 2022, the MMO communicated the outcome to industry and also published an update online. In addition to the outcome of the review, this confirmed that the deadline for Tranche 1 (vessels 10m to 11.9m in length) device installation has been extended by seven weeks to 16 May 2022 and the grant claim window to 17 June 2022 to align with the Tranche 2 deadline.