The Marine Management Organisation has moved the inshore vessel monitoring rollout into its installation phase, confirming that more than 92% of eligible vessels were registered for a Nemo device by 12 July 2026. For vessel owners who met that deadline, the position set out by the regulator is straightforward: the units have already been shipped, they will be supplied and installed without charge, and each device carries a one-year warranty from the date of installation. That registration rate matters because the scheme is now shifting from registration to physical fitting. The MMO presented the figure as a strong response in difficult circumstances, while also making clear that the next test is operational compliance rather than enrolment alone.
Installations have already started and, according to the Marine Management Organisation, are expected to continue over the next three months. The work is being carried out by CLS UK, which will contact vessel owners directly to arrange appointments. Installations are expected to be organised regionally by port, an approach intended to minimise disruption to normal fishing activity. CLS UK has also said airtime contracts will begin only after the installation period has been completed, with vessel owners notified in advance before any payment request is made. Sean Douglas, the MMO's Head of Regulatory Assurance, said the organisation was grateful for the level of cooperation so far and said CLS UK had assured the MMO that any future changes in device or airtime prices would follow normal price rises and inflation.
The operational instructions attached to the rollout are limited, but they are important. Once an installation date has been confirmed, vessel owners are asked to charge the device 48 hours before the appointment and check that the green light is showing. Until that point, the device should remain stored safely in its original packaging. The supplier has also warned that missed appointments may lead to charges. Where an agreed installation is missed without adequate notice to CLS UK or the engineer, a vessel owner could face an additional cost. In regulatory terms, that turns appointment management into more than an administrative task.
The position is less certain for vessel owners who did not register by 12 July 2026. The MMO has asked those operators to contact its I-VMS team, but it has not guaranteed that a Nemo device will still be provided free of charge. Owners who have not yet secured an I-VMS device are being urged to act promptly if they want to avoid falling outside licence requirements and facing later enforcement action. The Marine Management Organisation has continued to frame the policy around data use as well as enforcement. It said I-VMS position data supports fisheries management, informs future displacement compensation work and helps provide a level playing field through regulatory assurance across the fleet.
The most consequential compliance point in the notice concerns SC2 devices. The MMO said there had been confusion about whether SC2 units remain acceptable. Its clarification is narrow but decisive: SC2 devices remain type-approved, but type-approval on its own is not enough to satisfy the licence condition. The licence condition requires an I-VMS device to transmit data to the supplier for onward transmission to the UK VMS Hub. The MMO said the UK VMS Hub has not received data transmissions from SC2 devices since 12 August 2025. On that basis, an SC2 device does not enable a vessel owner to comply with the licence condition, even though the device itself remains approved in principle.
For vessel owners still considering an SC2 purchase, or continuing an airtime agreement with Succorfish, the notice amounts to a direct warning from the regulator. The MMO said operators should consider the compliance position carefully before committing further money, review the terms of any supplier contract in detail and seek independent advice where the contractual position is unclear. For further queries, the MMO has pointed vessel owners to its dedicated I-VMS helpline on 01900 508618, available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, and to the email address ivms@marinemanagement.org.uk. Its published I-VMS guidance for England remains the main reference point for installation queries, device rules and related FAQs.