To all addressees on attached consultation list Our Ref: MS 166/6/002 18 March 2005 Dear Sir/Madam, PROPOSED MARINE GUIDANCE NOTE ON MOORING, TOWING AND HAULING EQUIPMENT ON MERCHANT SHIPS, YACHTS AND FISHING VESSELS Merchant Shipping Notice M718, issued in 1975, offered some guidance on the hazards associated with mooring, towing and hauling equipment. However, following several recent serious accidents involving poor working practices during mooring operations or poor repair work, further advice and guidance is considered appropriate. The attached draft Marine Guidance Note (MGN) is intended to update and extend the existing guidance with respect to Merchant Ships, Yachts (Motor and Sail) and Fishing Vessels. COMMENTS Any comments you wish to make on the draft Marine Guidance Note would be welcome. These should be provided in writing, by fax or by email to:- Catherine Woodward Tel: 023 8032 9328 to arrive no later than 10th June 2005. All information in responses, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure under freedom of information legislation. If a correspondant requests confidentiality, this cannot be guaranteed and will only be possible if considered appropriate under the legislation. Any such request should explain why confidentiality is necessary. Any automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not be considered as such a request unless you specifically include a request, with an explanation, in the main text of your response. DISTRIBUTION Whilst the list of consultees has been compiled to give a representative selection of comments on the proposals, this should not be taken to mean that only those receiving this consultation letter are entitled to offer comments. Recipients are free to circulate copies of the consultation documents to other parties/organisations etc who they consider have an interest but are not included on the consultation list. Alternatively additional copies of this consultation document can be obtained from Seafarer Health and Safety Branch at the above address, or can be downloaded from the Consultations section of the MCA website at the following address:- www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-regs/mcga-consultations/mcga-current_consultations.htm If your address details require any amendment, or you consider there are other persons who should be consulted or if you do not wish to be consulted on further Marine Guidance Notes, please could you advise Catherine Woodward. Yours faithfully Technical Manager Seafarer Health and Safety Branch |
