Protocol for duty to assist referrals

HMCG accepts the importance of a protocol for making referrals to the Regulatory Compliance and Investigations team (RCIT) and revised its SOPs in October 2023 to enshrine this practice. This update reminded all staff of the legal requirement for a vessel to proceed with all speed to the assistance of the persons in distress (unless the master considers it unreasonable or unnecessary to do so). The SOP states that network commanders must inform RCIT at the earliest opportunity when vessels near to a distress position do not respond to a mayday relay broadcast. Failure to respond is considered during operational reviews by HMCG, with referrals made when the threshold is reached. This takes into consideration vessels that are not required to respond - for example, if it would be unsafe to do so, if they would not be able to assist, or not able to assist in time. HMCG would take action to understand why a nearby vessel that appeared able to support did not respond, and this would result in a referral if no adequate reason were evident. It is rare for vessels not to comply. HMCG will develop a process to maintain awareness of referrals and support data collection.

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). 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.