View source for Maritime and Coastguard Agency

{{Short description|UK executive agency}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Maritime and Coastguard Agency
| image = MaritimeAgency.svg
| size = 200px
| caption =
| abbreviation = MCA
| formation =
| status = [[Executive agency]]
| purpose = Maritime Regulator
| location = [[Southampton]]
| region_served = United Kingdom coast
| membership =
| leader_title = Chief Executive
| leader_name = Virginia McVea<ref name="MarineLinK">{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/virginia-mcvea-appointed-chief-executive-officer-of-the-maritime-and-coastguard-agency |title=Virginia McVea appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency |date=23 February 2023 |publisher=GOV.UK}}</ref>
| leader_title2 = Non-Executive Chair
| leader_name2 = [[Simon Stevens]]
| main_organ =
| parent_organisation = [[Department for Transport]]
| affiliations =
| budget =
| website = {{url|https://gov.uk/mca}}
}}
The '''Maritime and Coastguard Agency''' ('''MCA''') is an [[executive agency]] of the United Kingdom that is responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It works to prevent the loss of lives at sea and to prevent marine pollution. It is a subsidiary executive agency of the UK [[Department for Transport]] and responsible through the [[Secretary of State for Transport]] to [[Parliament]]. It is also responsible for land based search and rescue helicopter operations since 2015.<ref name=MCAABOUT>[https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency/about About us, MCA], GOV.UK. Retrieved 18 March 2016.</ref> Its motto is ''"Safer Lives, Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas"''. The organisation is currently led by Virginia McVea.<ref name="MarineLinK"/>
==Responsibilities==
Its responsibilities include coordinating [[search and rescue]] (SAR) on the coastline and at sea through [[His Majesty's Coastguard]] (HMCG), ensuring that ships meet international and UK safety standards, monitoring and preventing coastal [[water pollution]] and testing and issuing [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]] Certificates of Competency (licences) for ships' officers and crew to [[STCW]] requirements.<ref>[https://www.edumaritime.net/uk-mca UK MCA CoC Requirements]</ref> The MCA is chiefly responsible for the syllabus and national training standards issued by the [[Merchant Navy Training Board]] (based at the [[UK Chamber of Shipping]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mntb.org.uk/about-us/our-vision-and-mission/|title=MNTB - Mission and Vision|access-date=3 July 2016}}</ref>
The MCA has three distinct "outward facing" elements - provision of [[search and rescue]] and prevention activity through [[His Majesty's Coastguard]], port and flag state control of shipping through a network of Marine Offices and the development of international standards and policy for shipping through the [[International Maritime Organization]]. MCA utilizes airborne assets in the form of helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and drones for SAR, and other, operations and is going to make greater use of these technologies under the UKSAR2G contract to be awarded in 2024.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McKenzie|first=Steven|date=2020-05-28|title=Coastguard plans to add drones to air fleet|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-52821363|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref>
The MCA has now established an [[automatic identification system]] (AIS) network around the UK coast, for real-time tracking and monitoring of shipping movements from the shore.
==History==
[[File:HQ of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Commercial Road, Southampton - geograph.org.uk - 409185.jpg|thumb|right|HQ of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, Commercial Road, [[Southampton]]]]
The MCA was established on 1 April 1998 following a government merger of the UK Coastguard Agency and the UK Marine Safety Agency (MSA).<ref name="Harris">{{cite report |author=Chris Harris |date=1998 |title=Annual Report and Accounts 1997-98 |publisher=OECD}}</ref>
The MCA was led by [[Alan Massey|Vice Admiral Sir Alan Michael Massey]] between 2010 and 2018.<ref name="DailyEcho">{{cite web |url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/16092209.sir-alan-massey-retiring-mca-eight-years-helm/ |title=Sir Alan Massey is retiring from the MCA after eight years at the helm |date=16 March 2018 |publisher= Southern Daily Echo |access-date=10 October 2022}}</ref> Brian Johnson then served as Chief Executive of the MCA between 2018 and 2022.<ref name="IIMS">{{cite web |url=https://www.iims.org.uk/brian-johnson-to-step-down-as-ceo-of-the-maritime-and-coastguard-agency/ |title=Brian Johnson to step down as CEO of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency |date=22 April 2022 |publisher= International Institute of Marine Surveying |access-date=10 October 2022}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Code of safe working practices]]
* [[Merchant navy]]
* [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.gov.uk/mca/}}
{{Coast guards}}
{{Department for Transport (United Kingdom)}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Water transport in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Executive agencies of the United Kingdom government]]
[[Category:Maritime transport authorities]]
[[Category:Sea rescue organisations of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Department for Transport]]
[[Category:British Merchant Navy]]