The Government has made the Merchant Shipping (Watercraft) (Amendment) Order 2026, extending the statutory accident investigation regime to powered recreational watercraft. The Order applies across the UK and, from 17 April 2026, brings these craft within scope of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB). It also corrects minor drafting issues in the 2023 Order following departmental consultation. (gov.uk)
Legally, the instrument applies section 267 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (investigation of marine accidents) to watercraft as it applies to ships, with a clarification that references to a “United Kingdom ship” include watercraft eligible for UK registration. It also applies section 259 (investigators’ powers) so far as needed for section 267(8). This removes ambiguity about MAIB’s authority to open inquiries after incidents involving watercraft. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
The Order further applies the Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012 to watercraft as they apply to ships, specifying that any reference to a “master” is to be read as “any person for the time being using a watercraft” for regulation 6(1) (duty to report accidents and serious injuries) and regulation 10(3) and 10(7). In practice, the individual operating the craft at the time of an incident now carries the statutory reporting and cooperation duties. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Scope remains anchored in the 2023 Watercraft Order. “Watercraft” are powered recreational craft-such as jet skis and motor yachts-that are not “ships” or “fishing vessels”, are capable of mechanical propulsion, and can carry one or more persons. This builds on the 2023 framework introduced to address enforcement gaps highlighted by earlier case law. (gov.uk)
Two drafting corrections are implemented. First, the Order clarifies that references to “the Act” in Schedule 1 are to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and deletes an erroneous cross‑reference to regulation 91 of the 1993 Registration Regulations. Second, a superfluous sub‑paragraph reference in paragraph 2 is removed, and article 6 is corrected to read “of the 1995 Act”. These changes address issues raised by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI) in March 2023. (gov.uk)
Process and legal basis are unchanged: the Secretary of State has acted under section 112 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 after consulting representative organisations. The Department for Transport consulted from 3 February to 3 March 2026 and confirmed the objective was to ensure accidents involving watercraft can be investigated by MAIB while making targeted textual fixes. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Operationally, MAIB’s published remit-UK‑flag vessels worldwide and all vessels in UK territorial waters-now clearly extends to watercraft under statute. For operators and training schools, this means updating incident procedures to ensure prompt reports to MAIB by the user, preserving evidence when requested, and facilitating access for inspectors, consistent with the 2012 Regulations. (gov.uk)
Jurisdiction is clarified for UK‑connected craft: the explicit reference to watercraft eligible for UK registration aligns watercraft with ships for investigation purposes, complementing MAIB’s ability to examine relevant incidents in UK waters and, for UK‑eligible craft, beyond. The Department notes these amendments should take effect before MAIB’s forthcoming replacement regulations for accident reporting. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
The instrument is signed for the Department for Transport by Parliamentary Under‑Secretary of State Keir Mather. A de minimis assessment accompanies the Order, with the Explanatory Memorandum available on legislation.gov.uk; no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is anticipated. (members.parliament.uk)