Guidance

The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15m Length Overall

This page contains The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15m Length Overall and all associated information to be read alongside it.

• From: Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• Published: 17 October 2017
• Last updated: 31 January 2024
  Show all updates

  1. 31 January 2024

     31 January 2024 - Paragraph 3.2.2 revised to link to Wolfson Unit website.

  2. 19 December 2023

     Revised MSF Forms. Annex 5b - MSF 1382. Annex 6b - MSF 1380. Annex 7b - MSF 1378.

  3. 19 August 2022

     The forms for recording the outcomes of stability tests for fishing vessels have been updated. The forms are Annexes 5b, 6b and 7b.

  4. 6 April 2022

     Clarified requirements of multi-purpose fire extinguisher in Section 5.7.1.1 to align with checklist in Annex 3

  5. 12 November 2021

     Added new link to page with stability calculator.

  6. 6 September 2021

     Updated further to publication of MSN 1871 Amendment No. 2.

  7. 17 October 2017

     First published.

Documents

The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15m Length Overall

HTML

The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels of Less Than 15m Length Overall

MS Word Document, 3.27 MB

ANNEX 1 - Regulations, MSNs and MGNs Relevant to Fishing Vessels Subject to this Code

HTML

ANNEX 2 - Example Small Fishing Vessel Certificate

ODT, 38.5 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

ANNEX 2 - Example Small Fishing Vessel Certificate

MS Word Document, 19 KB

ANNEX 3 - Checklists of requirements for different vessel lengths

MS Word Document, 91.9 KB

ANNEX 4 - Annual Self Certification Form

ODT, 16.4 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

ANNEX 4 - Annual Self Certification Form

MS Word Document, 24.6 KB

ANNEX 5a - Conducting Fishing Vessel Heel Test

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ANNEX 5b - MSF1382Heel Test (Suspended Load)

Ref: Rev 10.22

ODT, 55.2 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

ANNEX 5b - MSF1382Heel Test (Suspended Load)

Ref: Rev 10.22

MS Word Document, 74.3 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

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ANNEX 6a - Conducting Fishing Vessel Offset Load Test

HTML

ANNEX 6b - MSF1380 Heel Test (Offset Load)

Ref: Rev 10/22

ODT, 50.4 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

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ANNEX 6b - MSF1380 Heel Test (Offset Load)

Ref: Rev 10/22

MS Word Document, 69 KB

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ANNEX 7a - Conducting Fishing Vessel Roll Test

HTML

ANNEX 7b - MSF1378 Roll Test

Ref: Rev 10/22

ODT, 61.4 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

ANNEX 7b - MSF1378 Roll Test

Ref: Rev 10/22

MS Word Document, 78.9 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

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ANNEX 8 – Definitions of Decked and Open Vessels

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ANNEX 9 - The Wolfson Stability Guidance Method

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ANNEX 10 - Scope of inspection

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ANNEX 11 - When to apply for an inspection

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ANNEX 12 - F GAS LEAKS

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ANNEX 13 - MARPOL PLACARD EXAMPLE

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Details

Publications related to The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15m Length Overall

MSN 1871 Amendment No.2 (F) The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15m Length Overall announces the latest amendment of the MCA publication “The Code of Practice for Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15m Length Overall and should be read in conjunction with the Fishing Vessels (Code of Practice) regulations 2017 No.943 and the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) Regulations 2018 No.1106 and replaces MSN 1871 Amendment No.1 – The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15m Length Overall.

Stability guidance

• MGN 503 (F) Roll or heel test for fishing vessel stability details the procedure for carrying out a roll or heel test to provide data for vessel stability.

• MGN 526 - Stability guidance for fishing vessels - Wolfson method provides guidance to help fishermen make decisions regarding the operation of their vessel using the Wolfson Stability Guidance Method.

Construction standards for your vessel

To access a copy of the construction standards to which your vessel was built please email fishing@mcga.gov.uk.