Technology for duplicate incident reconciliation

Duplicate incidents are those where multiple calls are received about the same boat and/or there are multiple boats in the channel simultaneously, creating a complex and unclear operational picture. Technology and procedures that would usually be deployed to clarify identity, positions, statuses and locations of callers are not applicable to unregistered small boats that are without distinctive markings and not fitted with safety equipment or devices to provide accurate location. Since November 2021, HMCG has reviewed and updated its procedures to reconcile duplicate small boat incidents. Each caller is now given a unique alpha-numeric identifier which is reconciled with each small boat when it is rescued to maintain an overall picture of incidents in the channel. In February 2022 HMCG introduced the ICU-Hub (initially known as MX Locate), a web-based solution that aids in the location, communication, and recovery of casualties on land and sea. The ICU-Hub provides a translation function on WhatsApp messaging, position information, and video function, supporting communication between the Coastguard and people onboard the small boats who have access to mobile phones. This is in addition to procuring and deploying drones which provide a single line of tasking, specifically dedicated to small boats with downlink capabilities (data transmission of video footage). This helps with surveillance and covers broader areas of the sea, improving the overall situational awareness of teams working on SAR in the channel. HMCG’s capability to deploy drones, helicopters and fixed-wing aircrafts, provides a multi-layered approach to situational awareness that delivers reconciliation of small boats. Alongside this, HMCG launched the Command-and-Control Programme in October 2025, which is a modernisation initiative of existing systems. This will provide an opportunity to test the market for technologies that could support the reconciliation of duplicate small boat incidents. HMCG continues to assess the market and explore technologies that may support its wider small boat operations by attending public safety technology events - such as those hosted by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, and Critical Communications World - and through engagement with international partners to monitor global developments. The MCA is also seeking to engage with academia through a knowledge exchange approach, to draw on applied academic expertise, practical insight, and cross-sector learning. This will inform MCA’s understanding of what may be feasible in practice for small boat reconciliation within the constraints of live SAR operations.

The Department for Transport published its interim response to the Cranston Inquiry in July 2026, which included updates against this recommendation. This update noted that many of the recommendations - including this one - have been marked as complete but are necessarily based on an on-going approach, rather than having a single end point. The Department (DfT), the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), and His Majesty’s Coastguard (HMCG) are committed to on-going learning and improvement, and will regularly review processes and practices, learning from best practice, to ensure that they are fit to meet the evolving challenges of maritime search and rescue (SAR). Due to the operational and ongoing nature of these recommendations, the MCA has established an internal process of monitoring, verifying and reporting against recommendations that are its responsibility, noting that many recommendations require an on-going approach rather than reaching a single, fixed point.