The penultimate piece in this series looks at maritime transport.
While it’s not the most commonly discussed transport method in Wales (at least prior to Brexit), it’s still vitally important to international trade.
Additionally, it’s one of the most legally complicated. Also, aside from rail infrastructure, it’s one of the largest areas of transport policy not fully devolved to Wales.
A Maritime Agency
As mentioned in the earlier graphic, maritime policy is overseen by three main executive agencies: The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (the main maritime regulatory body), Port Security Authorities (self-explanatory) and HM Revenue & Customs (self-explanatory).
There’s no dedicated maritime agency for Wales, even for sea policies that are devolved (like fisheries). Nearly all devolved areas of marine policy are managed directly by the Welsh Government, with some environmental policy areas overseen by Natural Resources Wales.
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency had an annual operating expenditure of £456million in 2022-23 (pdf – p87), with around half of all spending going on search and rescue operations.
For the sake of an estimate, a proportional share of this spending for Wales would be around £23million. However, there would be different factors at play to work out an accurate figure including the number of search and rescue calls, maritime infrastructure and frequency of sea traffic in Welsh territorial waters.
One option is that coastguard activities (anti-smuggling, traffic management, inshore patrols, search & rescue) would be undertaken by the military post-independence.
Similarly, you would assume that whichever agency undertakes coastguard activities would control associated infrastructure like lighthouses and foghorns (presently overseen by an EnglandandWales lighthouse authority). There are 16 lighthouses around the Welsh coast.
For everything else, based on international examples when it comes to maritime transport Wales has a few options:
- Let ports run themselves; have an arms-length maritime regulator for everything else: This is similar to what we have now. An equivalent of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency would need to be set up for Wales to act as a regulator and registrar of sea vessels. Ports would continue to be run as they are now (by Associated British Ports, Stena Line Ports or someone else).
- National Ports & Maritime Authority/Nationalisation: Ports and harbours are nationalised and come under the responsibility of a single agency. This agency would take over the functions of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency and port security authorities. Similar to Denmark, the authority could have the power to make/alter rules and regulations in collaboration with interested parties.
- “Maritime Wales”/ A single catch-all agency; ports run privately: This would be similar to the model used in New Zealand, with an executive agency being responsible for overseeing regulatory, registration, safety and security matters for maritime transport and ports. The body could also take over responsibility for the marine environment and fisheries, similar to the Marine Scotland body.
Does Wales need a maritime college?
Some Welsh further education colleges – Coleg Llandrilo and Pembrokeshire College – offer marine engineering courses or courses for merchant shipping cadets.
Pembrokeshire College has a partnership with Southampton-based Warsash Maritime School, which is part of Solent University. However, there’s no college or university in Wales offering accredited deck officer training for merchant ships as far as I can tell.
It’s not an urgent need, but would be nice to have; we need to remember that Wales didn’t have a veterinary school until one opened at Aberystwyth University in 2021.
If one of the aforementioned colleges couldn’t offer officer courses for whatever reason, then one candidate would be Bangor University, which has a successful Ocean Sciences department (the only one in Wales).
Jet skis
Anti-social use of jet skis has been raised both in the Senedd and other parts of the UK over the last few years, with particular problems in the waters around Anglesey.
As of March 2023, power boats and jet skis are subject to the same safety requirements as ships and boats covered by the Merchant Shipping Act. It follows a consultation by the UK Government on measures to clamp down on the misuse of powered watercraft due to several deaths.
While it’s a step in the right direction, we could go further. This could include measures like making registration of all powered craft mandatory (rather than voluntary). Also, establishing a mandatory compulsory basic training scheme for people to use jet skis for the first time, regardless of age.
