North Yorkshire Harbours Among First To Comply With New Safety Regulations

Harbours in Scarborough, Whitby, and Filey are leading the way in marine safety after successfully meeting strict new national regulations ahead of many other UK ports.

North Yorkshire's harbours are among the first in the country to comply with new safety regulations, ensuring the region's coastline remains a safe environment for both workers and visitors.

A recent annual report presented to the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee confirmed that North Yorkshire Council has successfully updated its Safety Management System. The changes were made to meet the revised Port and Marine Facilities Safety Code.

North Yorkshire Council's head of Harbours and Coastal Infrastructure, Chris Bourne, highlighted the importance of these local maritime sites:

"The harbours, the ports, the cobble landing at Filey, these are the jewels in the crown of North Yorkshire. They attract many visitors, residents visit them regularly. But they're also a working environment and with that working environment comes some high risk as well.

So, safety within the ports is a very important issue. And we have safety management systems to make sure that we comply with government requirements. We have safety policies and a safety plan and these all set out how our harbours will be managed in accordance with the national port and marine facilities safety code and its associated guide to good practice, which is the document published by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency which sets out the standards that ports should be aiming to achieve for safe, for safety in their environments.

So, it's really about enhancing safety for everyone who uses or works in the harbours."

The updated safety code gave statutory harbour authorities a deadline to declare their compliance. While the standard is not legally mandatory, the government expects all harbour authorities to adhere to it.

Mr Bourne explained the council's proactive approach to the new rules:

"The DFT and the Maritime Coastguard Agency published new updated guidance, and they gave harbour authorities until March 2026 to certify their compliance with the new updated standards.

What we have done is work to update our systems to make sure that they comply with the new standards. The MCA tend to only come and inspect on a and eight-yearly cycle, but you have to maintain your diligence. The Port Marine Safety Code suggests that you should have an audit every three years. We've decided we would like to be better than that, we want to do an audit every year."

To ensure independence, the council appointed an external consultant to conduct the latest internal audit between September and January.

Detailing the results of this assessment, Mr Bourne said:

"This time, because of the new guidance, we asked the designated person to do a full audit of all of the issues within the harbour, all of the systems within the harbour. And that audit was carried out from September until January, and I'm pleased to say that we had a score of 10 out of 10. We were green across all areas, so there was an improvement.

A month later, or so later, we were at the UK Harbour Masters conference, and at that time the MCA approached us and we were anecdotally informed that at that time, approximately only 50% of the ports in the UK had been able to certify their compliance with the Port Marine Safety Code. So we're in that top 50%."

The council's safety measures include a round-the-clock monitoring system and trained watchkeepers who have the delegated power to advise and direct vessels. According to the performance report, there were sixteen recorded incidents across the region's ports between April 2024 and March 2026, with nine in Scarborough, seven in Whitby, and none in Filey.

Reflecting on the council's historical track record for marine safety, Mr Bourne added:

"In 2024, we had an external MCA inspection. The external inspections by the MCA are really the gold standard in inspections. They are independent. They are unquestionable. They go into great depth, and if they say you're poor, and if they say you're good. I am very pleased that when we were last inspected by the MCA in 2024, they gave us a score of 9 out of 10. So from 2024, we were already as a series of hubs and ports in a very good place."