A meeting of Red Ensign Group yacht surveyors has been held to discuss its Yacht Code and clarifications around how it is interpreted, where necessary.
Representatives from Cayman Islands, UK Ship Register, Isle of Man and Jersey attended the discussions with a view to providing additional clarification which, if it is thought appropriate can be included in the next revision of the Code.
The new REG Yacht Code which comes into force next January, was created after consultation and using all the expertise gained across the group during two decades of regulating the yacht industry.
During a two day meeting held at the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry offices in the UK, the team of yacht surveyors discussed their work and findings while also looking to find common interpretations of the current Code and its 2019 replacement.
Julian Smith, from Cayman Islands Shipping Registry chaired the meeting. He said: 'We work hard to make sure that we have the right balance between creating the right package to attract customers without compromising the safety standards for which the Red Ensign Group is known and respected across the world. It's been a really successful couple of days with a lot of helpful discussion and working through our thoughts on aspects of the Codes.'
Stuart Hannam is the Maritime & Coastguard Agency's policy lead on EU & International Standards. He said: 'The REG Yacht Codes are known round the world as the standard for yacht construction. However, to maintain this, it is important these are being applied consistently across the Red Ensign Group members. What we've done here is to work through the interpretations of members so that we agree a consistent approach right across the Red Ensign Group.'
Angus Lamming from the Isle of Man Ship Registry said: 'It's been an interesting and productive meeting. While we may have discussions and even differences about how we see interpretations of the Code, ultimately we're all working towards the same thing: increasing safety standard in the yachting industry.'
Peter Moore was representing the British Registry of Ships in Jersey. He said: 'We know from the wider work of the Red Ensign Group that its strength lies in its ability to work collaboratively. This is just one of the ways that you see the practical outworking of that collaboration and it will benefit those who are flagged to us.'
Adam Jackson, technical head of Ensign for the UK Ship Register said: 'These meetings are really important. Meeting face to face helps us to find common ground and build those relationships that we know matter across the REG and we can tap into each other's experience as well as creating consistency in our approach to how we interpret the Yacht Code.'